Legacies
by tara-k90
Summary: "Walking back to her dorm, Rose thought about that night's events. There was nothing happening between her and Scorpius Malfoy. Was there…?" Starting midway through their 6th year at Hogwarts, this story follows Rose, Albus, Scorpius and their friends as they navigate through a year filled with Quidditch matches, surprise friendships, and romantic entanglements. Not only SM/RW.
1. Prologue

**AN: Hi, so this is my first attempt at a multi-chaptered fic. I guess I just wanted to write a story about what I think the Next Gen was like, because I am a HUGE ScoRose fan. I can say right now that it's going to be a long story, and while Scorpius and Rose are the main focus, it also focuses on other pairings as well. Also the prologue takes place during the first day of their first year, but the chapters afterwards will jump ahead to the gang's 6th year. But anyways, read, enjoy, and review. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of its characters. They all belong to the flawless J.K. Rowling. Any dialogue recognizable in this chapter is from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.**

**Thursday, September 1st, 2016**

**King's Cross Station, London **

Moving quickly through the crowded train station, a family of four headed towards platforms nine and ten.

"Hugo, darling, please keep up!" admonished the mother. "We don't want your sister to be late for the train, now do we?"

"I don't see why I can't go to Hogwarts _now _Mum ," whined the boy, a child of ten years old.

"Son, we've been over this. Next year you'll be off as well, just you wait," the father said, flashing back to his own first day taking the train to school.

Rushing through the crowd, they finally made it to Platform 9. Walking in-between the pillars of Platforms 9 and 10, the family stopped.

"Ron, why don't you take Rosie first, and I'll come after with Hugo."

"Sure, love," Ron nodded at his wife. Turning to his eleven year daughter, he asked, "Rosie, are you ready?"

The small red headed girl beside him looked up at her father. "Mhmm, let's go Dad," she said, smiling nervously.

Ron took his daughters hand, pushing her trolley with his other hand, and said, "Alright on the count of three. One… Two… Three!"

Squeezing her eyes tightly, Rose ran with her father towards the barrier between the platforms, bracing herself for an collision.

No impact came.

Coming out on the other side, she quickly opened her eyes. Waving her hand to clear the steam from her face, she saw a scarlet steam engine a bit ahead of her, with the words 'Hogwarts Express' printed on the front of it. The platform next to the train was packed with students swarming through the masses of families sharing tearful goodbyes.

"Hugo stop dawdling, _please_!" Rose heard behind her.

Turning around, she saw that her mother pulling her brother towards them.

"Come on you lot, I told Harry we'd meet them over there," her father indicated further down the platform, towards the last carriage.

Making their way down the platform, everything hit Rose at once. Finally, she was going to Hogwarts. Grinning inwardly as she walked next to her father, she tried to spot the emerald eyes and black hair that marked her best friend and cousin, Albus Potter.

"There," Hugo pointed at the front of the train, "I think that's them."

Turning around, Rose saw a family of five walking towards them. A little redheaded girl was clutching her father's arm, trailed shortly after by her mother. Behind them, were two black haired boys. The older boy looked to be teasing the younger about something, causing Rose to sigh in frustration. She knew James too well to believe that he wouldn't say some mocking remark to Albus about his first day at Hogwarts.

As they came closer, Rose saw the mother point towards them, and emerald eyes met her blue ones. Instantly, Rose saw her best friend smile in relief.

"Hi," Albus breathed, sounding immensely relieved.

Rose just beamed at him.

"Parked alright then? Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."

"No I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."

Rose saw her father whisper something to her uncle as they lifted Al's trunk and owl onto the train, after which they both started laughing.

Turning to Al, she asked, "Are you nervous?"

"A little," Al replied hesitantly.

Turning back towards their family, she caught her father saying, "If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you. But no pressure."

"Ron!" exclaimed her mother and Aunt Ginny.

While Hugo and Lily laughed, Rose and Albus looked solemn. Rose wasn't afraid of being sorted anywhere other that Gryffindor. She knew that her father would love her no matter what. As she looked at Al, however, she knew that it was one of his fears to be sorted into a different house from his family, and disappoint everyone.

"He doesn't mean it," Hermione and Ginny assured Rose and Albus.

Looking to her father for confirmation, Rose instead found him directing her uncle towards another family a little ways down the platform. She saw a tall, handsome blonde man standing next to a beautiful brunette woman. The woman was hugging a small child, who's hair was as blonde as his father's, but much messier. Catching sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, the blonde man nodded curtly and turned back to his son, leaning down to tell him something.

"So that's little Scorpius," Ron said under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron. Unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get _too_ friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

Rose blushed immediately, looking downwards, as her mother and aunt scolded her father.

"Hey!"

James appeared in front of the family. "Teddy's back there, just seen him! And guess what he's doing? _Snogging Victoire!_"

None of the adults reacted, disappointing James.

"_Our _Teddy! _Teddy Lupin_!" he continued, still looking for a reaction. "Snogging _our_ Victoire! Our _cousin_! And I asked Teddy what he was doing "

"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "You are _so _like Ron "

" and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away! He's _snogging _her!" finished James, worried that he hadn't made himself clear.

Rolling her eyes, Rose turned her attention back to Al, as Harry and James argued over the idea of having Teddy come and live with them.

"Al, are you sure you're ok?" she asked, trying to catch his eyes.

"Yeah, Rosie, I'm fine. Just ready to get away from James, you know." he answered, giving a nervous chuckle, while avoiding her stare.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board," Harry told them all.

"See you later Al. Watch out for the thestrals," said James, turning to go find his friends.

"I thought they were invisible? _You said they were invisible!_"

James just laughed, let his mother kiss him, gave his father a short hug, and ran onto the train to find Fred and Louis.

Rose turned to her mother and father, as Harry assured Al that thestrals were gentle creatures.

"We'll miss you Rosie," said her father, with her mother nodding, tears quite evident in her eyes.

"I'll miss you too," Rose said as she hugged them both. "I'll write every week."

Before she could turn to him, Hugo came up and squeezed her from behind. "Rosie, if I'm a good boy, will you stay?" he asked softly.

Rose let out a small laugh. "Hugo that's not why I'm going, you know that. But you should be a good boy anyways," she smiled at her brother, patting him on the head. He grinned at her, taking his mother's hand.

Hugging her father once more, she saw Al and his father having a quiet chat further away, and made a mental note to ask Al what that was about.

Just before letting go of her father, he whispered, "I love you Rosie. And I'll be proud of you no matter what house you get into, ok?"

Smiling, she gave her father a small peck on the cheek, and nodded at him.

Getting on the train, she waited for Al to catch up. As Al jumped in the carriage, a number of faces began to turn towards his father.

"Why are they _staring_?" demanded Al

"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."

Laughing, Rose and Al waved goodbye to their parents as the train started moving. As the engine picked up speed, they turned to each other, and smiled. They were finally on their way to Hogwarts.

* * *

**Thursday, September 1st, 2016**

**Hogwarts Express, somewhere in the English countryside**

"Al, _come on_! We have to find a compartment."

"As long as it's no where near James, I'm fine with anywhere Rose. I'm tired of him teasing me about being in Slytherin."

"Al you really shouldn't take it to heart." Rose said, looking around for an empty compartment.

"Yeah, that's what dad says," he sighed in reply.

"Aha! I think I've found on ," Rose started. "Oh wait, that blonde bloke from the platform is in there. Do you think it's ok to go in?" she asked hesitantly.

"Why not? He couldn't be worse than James."

Sliding the door open, Albus took charge and stepped in.

Scorpius Malfoy turned away from the window to find a dark haired boy and redheaded girl standing in the doorway.

"Hello mate," began the black haired boy. "Do you mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full."

Scorpius shook his head, and gestured towards the seats across from him.

"I'm Albus Potter, but you can call me Al. And this is my cousin Rose Weasley," Al said sticking out his hand.

Scorpius hesitated, before taking Al's hand and shaking it. "I'm Scorpius, Scorpius Malfoy" he said softly.

"Quite a mouthful," Al replied, "mind if I call you Scorp?"

Scorpius smiled and nodded. "That's what my parents call me too." Turning towards the redheaded girl, Scorpius saw that she seemed to be staring out the window in awe. He quirked an eyebrow at Al in question.

"Oh don't mind her, she's just lost in the wonder of our first day," laughed Al, easing into the situation quickly.

Scorpius nodded his head in assent.

Breaking out of her reverie, Rose turned to the blonde boy. "So what house to you want to be in, Scorpius?" she asked carefully, purposefully using his full name.

"Well most of my parent's family has been in Slytherin, except for my mum, who was in Ravenclaw." he began. "But Mum and Dad told me they didn't care what house I was sorted into, as long as I was happy, so I suppose I'll just leave it up to the hat to decide. My cousin Melanie's in Slytherin though, and she seems to like it."

Al and Rose just nodded at him, clearly surprised by his nonchalance about the sorting.

"How about you lot?"

Rose answered first. "Well our whole family has been in Gryffindor, but I hear Ravenclaws are really smart. I dunno, I suppose either of those would be acceptable."

"Ravenclaw, huh? So you're probably a book-worm then," joked Scorpius.

Rose snapped her head toward him, glaring. Not understanding that he was joking, she said, coldly, "In fact, I _do _like reading books. Is that a problem, _Malfoy_?"

Scorpius stuttered, caught off guard by her sudden attack. "N-n-no I was just sayin- "

"I _know_ what you were saying," stated Rose, cutting him off and standing up, "and I'm not sure I like being judged by someone who doesn't even know me." Turning to Al, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide his snicker under his breath, she said, "Al I'm going to go see if I can find Lucy or Dom." And with that she stomped out of the room.

Scorpius just stared after her. "Blimey! I didn't mean anything by it," he said softly, "I was just joking."

Al turned to him with a sympathetic smile. "I know mate, don't take it to heart. Rose is known for her temper, and it can be triggered by the smallest things. I'm sure she won't hold it against you."

Little did Albus know how wrong he was.

Scorpius sighed, slumping down in his seat. "Thanks mate. So you haven't told me where you want to be sorted."

Al shifted uncomfortably. Avoiding Scorpius' eyes at first, he decided who better to tell his worries to than someone he had just met. Someone who had no affiliation with his family whatsoever.

"Well my whole family's been in Gryffindor for ages, but I'm not sure where I want to be sorted," Al started.

"Oh?" Scorpius prodded.

"Yeah. It's just my brother, James, is always teasing me about how I'm going to get sorted into Slytherin, and it used to really bother me. But then my dad took me aside before we left on the train and reassured me that Slytherin wasn't all that bad."

"What did he say? If you don't mind me asking that is."

"Just that there was nothing wrong with being in Slytherin, and one of the bravest men he ever knew was a Slytherin." Al replied, thinking back to his talk with his father.

Scorpius sat in silence for a while. Then he made a decision.

"I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone," Scorpius confided, "not even my parents."

Al looked up from his seat and scooted forward.

"I want to be in Slytherin."

Albus raised his eyebrows in question.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin, and they always tended to have a dark reputation. So my father told me he wouldn't have any problem if I didn't want to be associated with the Slytherin house, and that I could be sorted anywhere else since the sorting hat listens to what the student wants. But instead, I've decided that I'm going to be in Slytherin and give the Slytherin Malfoys a new reputation," he ended, looking relieved to have finally confided in someone.

Al was impressed. Smiling at the boy across from him, Albus decided that if Scorpius Malfoy was the type of person that was going to be in Slytherin, maybe it wasn't such a bad place to end up.

* * *

A few hours later found Albus and Scorpius eating chocolate frogs and talking about the latest Puddlemere vs. Cannons Quidditch match.

"That ref was totally blind! How did he not see that the Puddlemere beater chucked his club at the Cannons' chaser?"

Laughing, Al agreed. "I know, it was pretty obvious that- "

Suddenly the door slammed open, interrupting Albus. Stepping into the carriage was a small brunette girl, with medium toned skin, and piercing brown eyes. Behind her was a boy with identical features.

"There you are Scorp, we've been looking everywhere for you!" cried the girl, with the boy behind her smiling.

Grinning, Scorpius greeted them. "Ella, Aiden. I've been here the entire time."

"This train is so long," Ella complained, taking a seat next to Al, who nervously scooted over. "And we got stuck behind the food trolley for twenty minutes!"

Aiden just shook his head at his sister's antics, and sat down next to Scorpius. Lifting his head to Al, he smiled, stuck out his hand, and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Aiden, Aiden Zabini. And this drama queen over here is my sister Ella," he said indicating the girl next to Al.

Ignoring Ella's indignant cry, Al shook his hand and said, "I'm Al, Al Potter."

"Nice to meet you Al." Turning, he saw a pile of chocolate frogs next to Scorpius, and grabbed one.

"Hey!" Scorpius cried. "Those are mine!"

"Yours, mine, what the difference really?" Aiden chuckled as he unwrapped the candy, making Scorpius roll his eyes.

Turning to Al, who looked a little confused, Scorpius said, "I've known this git since we were babies, hence his complete comfort with _stealing _my food."

Mouth full, Aiden just smiled, chomping on the whole chocolate frog in his mouth, while Ella looked disgustedly at him.

Swallowing his candy, Aiden took the card from the wrapper and turned it over and gave a start. Staring up at him was almost a replica of the boy sitting in front of him. Looking up at Al and indicating towards the card, he said, "Is this your dad?"

Knowing who he meant, Al blushed and nodded. Suddenly he heard a laugh come from across him.

"That is _brill_," Aiden exclaimed. "Your dad is on a chocolate frog card!"

Al laughed nervously, and replied, "Yeah, so I've heard."

After that the boys resumed their Quidditch talk, while a bored Ella looked out the window.

Twenty minutes later the door slammed open once again, causing the first years to jump. Rose stepped into the carriage once more.

"Oh Merlin, _finally_, another girl," cried Ella. Jumping up, she walked over to Rose. "Hi, I'm Ella. _Please _save me, they've been talking about Quidditch for the last half an hour," she complained.

Amused, Rose stared at the girl in front of her for a moment, before smiling and sticking out her hand. "I'm Rose. I was gonna check in with Al, but if they're just talking about Quidditch, we can go back to my other cousins' compartment. They're all girls."

"How many cousins do you have?" asked Scorpius, to which no one replied.

"Merlin, yes please!" Ella replied to Rose. "Aiden, I'll see you at the station. Bye boys."

Without so much as a glance backward, the two girls stepped out of the carriage, leaving the boys to talk about Quidditch in peace.

* * *

**Thursday, September 1st, 2016**

**Hogsmeade Station, Hogsmeade Village, Scotland **

The Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmeade Station just as the sun was setting.

Stepping out onto the nearly dark platform, Al, Scorpius, and Aiden drudged towards a voice calling, "Firs' years follow me! C'mon firs' years."

Grinning, Al saw Hagrid up ahead and beckoned to the other two boys. After exchanging greetings with Hagrid, the three boys stepped into a boat, where they were joined by a boy with shaggy blonde hair.

"Lorcan, mate!" Al cried, greeting the newcomer. "I didn't see you on the train at all!"

"Sorry Al, mum had Lysander and me up most of the night looking for nargles in the garden," he groaned looking exhausted. "I swear, that woman is absolutely barmy. Lysander was fine, but I ended up finding an empty compartment and sleeping the whole way here."

Al laughed at his Aunt Luna's eccentricities, which Lorcan didn't share as much of. Turning to Scorpius and Aiden, he introduced the new addition. "Lorcan, this is Scorpius and Aiden. I met them on the train."

The boys all shook hands just as the boats started moving. Up ahead Albus saw Rose in a boat, along with Ella and two other girls. Al waved at Rose, but she was too busy staring ahead at something.

Turning his face towards what was capturing Rose's attention, Al saw what she was looking at. Suddenly nothing but the soft waves of the lake could be heard. Ahead of them was the largest castle Al had ever seen, lit up with what looked like thousands of lights, causing the sky above it to glow slightly.

They had finally arrived at Hogwarts.

* * *

**Thursday, September 1st, 2016**

**The Great Hall, Hogwarts**

Rose fidgeted nervously with her fingers. Standing next to her was Ella, who was also fidgeting. The two girls had made fast friends on the train, and had taken a boat to the castle together. Now inside the Great Hall, they were waiting to be sorted.

"Ackerly, Justin!" came the voice of Professor Longbottom.

A small blonde boy started forward nervously. Sitting down on the stool, Professor Longbottom placed the sorting hat on his head. After about a minute of silence, the Sorting Hat suddenly cried out, "RAVENCLAW!"

Applause came from the table second to the left. The boy hopped off the stool quickly and ambled over to his new table.

With the first sorting done, the rest began to move fast.

"Ackerly, Phoebe!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Amelia!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Thunderous applause and whistles erupted from the table decorated in red and gold as Amelia Boot, the first Gryffindor of the year, went to take her seat with her new housemates.

"Fawcett, Robert!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Rose tried to calm herself down. Hadn't she told Al and the Malfoy boy that she didn't mind where she ended up? So why was she so nervous?

* * *

A few paces down from Rose stood Albus, with Scorpius next to him. Unlike Rose, Albus wasn't nervous at all anymore. He knew exactly where he belonged, and was determined to end up there.

"Longbottom, Emily!" called Professor Longbottom.

A short girl with blonde hair and green eyes lighter than Albus' skipped up towards the chair, a serene smile lighting up her face. Sitting on the stool, her father placed the Sorting Hat on her head. After a few moments of deliberation, the hat suddenly cried out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Beaming, the small girl made her way over to the scarlet and gold clad table, exchanging a smile with her father. She sat down and joined the other new Gryffindors, Amelia Boot, Charlotte Jones, and Adam Caldwell.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

Shooting a quick smile at Albus, Scorpius walked with confidence over to the chair in the front of the Hall. As he turned around and sat down, Professor Longbottom placed the Sorting Hat on his head.

"A Malfoy eh?" whispered the Sorting Hat into Scorpius' ear. Slightly startled, Scorpius just gave a slight nod.

"Not like your father, that's for sure," continued the hat. "I barely had to be placed on his head before I knew he was a Slytherin. No, you're not like that at all. You may be ambitious, but I also sense a lot of courage, intelligence and loyalty, qualities of all the other houses."

But Scorpius already had his mind made up.

"Interesting," murmured the hat. "Well if your mind is made up… SLYTHERIN!"

Smiling inwardly, Scorpius hopped of the stool, and sent another smile at Albus before going over to the applauding Slytherin table and sitting next to the other first years. Sitting a few seats down from him across the table, he caught his cousin, Melanie Nott's, eye and received an encouraging nod from her.

A few more sortings went by before Albus' name was called.

"Potter, Albus!" came Professor Longbottom's voice.

Whistles and applause came from his family at the Gryffindor table as Albus made his way over to the front of the Hall. Sitting in the chair, he received a small wink from his parent's longtime friend before Professor Longbottom placed the hat on his messy raven hair.

"Another Potter, is it?" remarked a small voice that only Albus could hear. "Where to place you…"

As the hat deliberated, Albus looked over at Scorpius. Thinking back to the train ride and Scorpius' explanation of his choice, Albus confirmed his earlier decision.

"Well this is interesting. So similar to your father when he sat in this very spot, yet such a different choice," said the hat, referring to Harry's plea to not be placed in Slytherin. "Well if you're sure, then I suppose it had better be… SLYTHERIN!"

Silence filled the Hall for a few moments.

"We got a Potter!" came a cry, breaking the silence.

Grinning and hopping off the chair, Albus made his way over to the silver and green clad table. As if breaking out of a trance, all the Slytherins rose and began cheering, as the rest of the tables began to slowly applaud as well.

Sitting beside Scorpius, Al noticed his new friend's surprised, but pleased, expression.

"What?" asked Al, amusedly. "I figured if you were put here, it couldn't be total rubbish," he grinned, before turning to introduce himself to the other Slytherin first year, Robert Fawcett.

Scorpius gave a small chuckle before turning to face the front of the hall.

Turning toward the Gryffindor table, Al searched for his brother. Finding his familiar face, Al was surprised to see that James was staring at the front of the hall, with a neutral look on his face. A few moments later, James turned his head to meet Al's eyes. Staring at him for a split second, James gave Al a small smile, that seemed to send the message that he was surprised, but not totally disappointed.

Returning the smile, Al turned toward the sorting once more.

* * *

After a few more first years were sorted, Lorcan was finally called up to the front. After very little deliberation, the hat made it's choice.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the sorting hat.

Jumping of the stool, Lorcan Scamander strutted over to the Ravenclaw table.

The next few sortings went by uneventfully, with Lorcan's brother Lysander going to Hufflepuff, Ellie Robins and Max Smith joining the Slytherin table, Chris Stafford going to Gryffindor, and Ben Taylor joining Ravenclaw. Finally Rose's name was called.

"Weasley, Rose!"

Taking a deep breath, Rose made her way over to her Uncle Neville. Sitting on the stool, she shifted around a bit trying to make herself comfortable.

"Oh! Another Weasley," came a small voice. "I do love sorting Weasleys. Let's see, brave like both your parents, extremely bright like your mother, and determined to prove yourself apart from your family. I'd say you'd fit best in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. But where to put you…"

Rose sat patiently, waiting for the hat to make a decision. Glancing towards the Slytherin table, she saw Scorpius looking at her. The moment he caught her eye, he sent a conciliatory smile towards her, which she ignored, facing the other tables again.

Thinking back to the train, and his words about being a 'book-worm,' a momentary fleeting resistance to being put in Ravenclaw- and categorized- flitted through her head.

And that was all it took.

"Well, I suppose that decides it," said the hat suddenly. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Startled, Rose got down from the stool, and ambled over to the Gryffindor table, where her cousins all greeted her and she sat by Emily. While she was happy with her sorting, had she just been put in Gryffindor based on her fleeting worry of what _Malfoy _thought?

"Oh Rosie, I'm so glad you were put here too!" exclaimed Emily, interrupting Rose's thoughts. "I was afraid I wouldn't know anyone _at all_."

Smiling at her childhood friend, Rose gave her a hug before returning her attention to the sorting, where "Wood, Darcy" was placed in Hufflepuff.

"Zabini, Aiden!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Seemingly surprised, but happy, Aiden strolled towards the Ravenclaw table, sitting next to Lorcan.

Finally, the last first year was called.

"Zabini, Daniella!"

Ella slowly walked up to the front, where the hat was placed on her brunette locks. After deliberating for a few minutes, the Sorting Hat yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Letting out a sigh of relief, Ella hopped off the chair, and practically ran over to the Gryffindor table to sit by Rose.

"This is wonderful, Ella, we'll be dorm mates!" Rose cried, hugging Ella. Turning to Emily, Rose introduced the two. "Ella, Emily. Emily, Ella."

The two girls smiled at each other before turning to the front where Professor McGonagall was giving the welcoming speech.

Glancing away from the Headmistress, Rose turned to the Slytherin table to try and find her best friend. Catching Al's eyes, she sent him a quick grin. He gave a slight wave back, before turning to whisper something to Scorpius, who quietly laughed in response.

Rose's smile faltered. She found herself a bit reluctant to the idea of sharing Albus with anyone else, especially after years of it being just the two of them. Hastily pushing the thought out of her head as the headmistress' speech ended, Rose clapped her hands, and turned to see the platters in front of her filling with food. Helping herself, she began to chat with the other Gryffindor first years.

After finishing dinner, Rose followed the other Gryffindors out of the hall, walking with Ella and Emily beside her.

"Devil's Snare," said the Gryffindor prefect to a portrait of a rather large lady.

"Oh, first years! How lovely," gushed the portrait, before swinging out to let them in.

Climbing into the portrait hole, the first years were told the password, given the dorm rules, and shown to where they would be living.

Afterwards, they all went to their respective dorms. The first year girl's dorm contained five girls in all; Rose, Ella, Emily, Mia Boot, and Charlotte Jones, both of who seemed to be nice girls.

Tired from the long day, the girls all clambered into their beds without unpacking. As the lights were switched off, and the dorm plunged into darkness, the last of Rose excitement died away due to exhaustion, and she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**AN: Quite long for just a prologue, I know. But I wanted to give a bit of a background on everyone. Also don't judge Rose to harshly for her reaction to Scorpius' joke just yet. It sets up the start to their rocky friendship. And lastly this fic does have an 'M' rating as of right now, because of language and future chapters. **

**First chapter should be up pretty soon, i'm just finishing up editing. Reviews would be lovely.**

**-Tara**


	2. Returning Home

**AN: Thanks to those who reviewed, I'm glad you all liked the story so far. Well like I said, the first chapter would come pretty soon after, so here you go. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Last time I checked, I'm still not J.K. Rowling, no matter how much I pray that I am. **

**Friday, December 16th, 2022**

**Gryffindor Tower, 6th Year Girl's Dorm, Hogwarts, 9am. **

Rose Weasley was running very late.

"Shit… shit, buggering hell," she swore, as she hopped around on one foot after stepping on a stray hair clip.

"Rose, what are you doing?! The train leaves in _thirty minutes_!" came a voice from the doorway.

Rose turned around to see her best friend, Ella Zabini, looking bewildered.

"I thought you'd gotten up and finished packing _ages _ago!"

"Ella, calm down, I am mostly packed. I was just getting the last of my things together. And I woke up late because _someone _decided not to wake me up for breakfast," Rose scowled, narrowing her eyes at Ella, who pointedly looked up at the ceiling.

Finally, Ella gave in. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry! I was going to wake you up, but Andrew sent up a note asking if I wanted to eat breakfast with him. And we had such a fantastic time at the party last night, so I agreed. Please, _please _forgive me?" Ella pleaded, giving Rose her signature puppy dog eyes that tended to work on most people.

"You know that doesn't work on… Oh, alright! You're forgiven…"

Ella grinned in triumph.

"… As long as you help me pack the rest of my stuff." Rose quickly added.

The smile slid right off of Ella's face, and she sighed. "Well, I suppose that's only fair." she conceded, and began to help her best friend pack.

"So, where is our other traitor of a friend who didn't wake me up?" Rose asked.

"Where else? As usual she's glued to my brother's side. They both packed last night so they could get up early and spend the morning together without rushing," Ella replied. "Do you need this?" she asked, lifting up a maroon sweater, with a large golden 'R' embroidered on it.

"No, Nana always makes us new Christmas sweaters every year. Just chuck it on the bed." Rose replied. "And how on earth did those two manage to wake up early?! I thought everyone would have massive hangovers after last night," she wondered, remembering the end of term party that had been held in the Room of Requirement the night before.

"They didn't drink much or stay for long," answered Ella. "I saw them sneak off around eleven last night, while Louis and Fred were entertaining the room with the fireworks your uncle sent them. They woke up at seven to have breakfast on the lake."

Rose scoffed. "Well bully for them. There's a certain thrill to running late that I do quite enjoy."

Ella laughed. "You liar! Just admit that you were too busy with a certain Zach Corner after the party to pack."

Silence filled the air for a few moments, before Rose replied curtly, "For your information, I was not with _Zachary _last night."

Ella turned and quirked an eyebrow at Rose's use of her boyfriend's full name.

"We had a stupid fight, so I left before I decided to hex him into next year," Rose huffed.

"Oh? And what did you fight about?" the brunette inquired.

"Merlin, who even knows anymore. It started out as a discussion on Quidditch, and escalated to an argument about whether men were naturally more gifted at flying. I swear, it's like that boy had no fucking clue who he was talking to."

Ella silently agreed. Although Rose wasn't on her house Quidditch team, it was well known that she was an avid Quidditch enthusiast. The only reason she wasn't on the team, despite much begging from her older cousin, and Gryffindor Quidditch captain, James, was due to her own choice to focus on her classes, prefect duties, and becoming Head Girl the next year. But given that she was a Weasley, she had the Quidditch gene in her that was hard to suppress.

"And the fact that we'd all been drinking," added Rose, "did not help with my temper."

Nodding, Ella said, "Yeah, well you weren't the only one who disappeared. Lorcan left with Jenny Martin pretty soon after the party started. I have no doubt that they took full advantage of the lack of Prefect patrols. And Albus took off pretty early too, not looking happy now that I think about it… And I have no idea where Scorpius disappeared to."

At the mention of Scorpius' name, Rose immediately shifted her eyes to her suitcase.

"So then if you weren't with Zach last night," Ella continued, not noticing her friend's discomfort, "why did you only come back to the dorm at two this morning? Didn't you leave the party around midnight?"

Rose coughed. Avoiding Ella's eyes, she said, "Oh, um yeah, I went up to the Astronomy Tower to gather my thoughts. You know, try and calm myself down, avoid Zach, the usual."

"You were up in the Astronomy Tower for two hours? Alone?"

"Mhmm," Rose continued without hesitation, "I guess I just lost track of time. And speaking of time, we'd better go or we're going to miss the train." Still avoiding her friend's gaze, Rose closed her trunk, hoping she had successfully distracted her friend.

Luckily, she had.

Ella looked at the time. "Merlin, you're right! Are you ok to get your trunk, or should I ask one of the boys to come and get it?"

"No I'll be fine," Rose replied. She grabbed her wand and pointed it at the trunk.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_."

Immediately, her trunk floated in the air. "Alright, let's go then."

Taking one last look at the room as Ella left, Rose sighed and followed her friend out of the dorm.

* * *

**Friday, December 16th, 2022**

**Hogwarts Express, traveling somewhere in the English countryside, 10am.**

An hour later, the Hogwarts Express was traveling full speed towards London.

Having made it just on time to the train, Rose and Ella found the compartment in which Aiden, Emily, and Lorcan were sitting.

"_Must _you two be all lovey-dovey like that in my presence?" Ella complained. Her face had a mild disgusted look on it as she watched her brother and best friend, whispering in each other's ears and laugh periodically.

"We were here first," Aiden replied, simply, not taking his eyes off Emily.

"Yeah, but I can't be the only one that doesn't want to see you two go at it."

"Oh _grow up _Ell-"

"Okay, okay let's stop this before it turns into a full fledged war, you two," Emily cut in. "Sorry Ella, we'll stop," she said, sending a placating smile towards Ella.

"Thank you, _Emily_," she said, while still glaring at her twin brother, who glared right back at her, before turning to play with Emily's hair. Rose and Lorcan watched on, looking extremely entertained. The twins were known for being extremely close, while also having fire-fueled fights.

Emily swiftly changed the topic. "So, El, before we left last night, you were looking pretty cozy with Andrew."

Ella blushed and immediately smiled. "Oh Em, he is so nice. I really like him. He's asked if we can get together over the holidays."

Lorcan coughed. "_Excuse me._ Who is this bloke?" he asked, looking between Emily and Ella.

"Andrew Turner," they both replied at the same time.

"Don't know him. Which means he's probably not good enough for you."

"He's in your house you idiot," retorted Ella.

"_My _house?" Lorcan asked incredulously.

"Yeah, he's a seventh year. Tall, blonde hair, beautiful baby blue eyes," gushed Ella, dreamily. "He's on the Quidditch team with Aiden."

Turning to his best friend for confirmation, Aiden just nodded at Lorcan and said, "Yeah mate, he's one of our Chasers."

"_That _guy?! No, no no, you _cannot_ date him," Lorcan declared, protectively.

"Ok, first off, what's wrong with him? And secondly, who are you, _my mother_? You're not even my brother!"

"I'm the closest thing you've got to one!" shot back Lorcan.

"Hey!" protested Aiden indignantly. "I'm sitting _right here_!"

"I meant besides you mate, obviously," said Lorcan, looking flustered.

Aiden just huffed to himself, and resumed playing with Emily's hair.

"El, you can't date him, he's a total player!" cried Lorcan, looking to Aiden for an ally.

Aiden, however, knew better to get mixed up in Ella's love life, and attempted to warn Lorcan by giving an imperceptible shake of his head.

He was ignored.

"You are such a _hypocrite_, Lorcan Scamander. You're practicallythe biggest player in our year, and you're telling me I can't date Andrew?!" Ella nearly shrieked.

"Yeah well you're not dating me, so that's not the issue." Lorcan responded back simply.

"I swear to Circe Lorc-"

"Fucking hell, will both of you just stop it?" hissed Rose, shutting her eyes and rubbing her fingers against her temples. "We just managed to stop Ella and Aiden from having it out, let's not have you two get started. Lorcan, just because you think Andrew is a player,doesn't mean he is one. It could be worse, he could be one of those other idiot seventh years in your house. And Ella, Lorcan is just trying to be a friend. You _know_ that he always gets protective of you," Rose cried, exasperated.

Everyone stared at her.

"Um Rose, sweetie, you're dating one of those 'idiot seventh years,'" commented Emily.

Rose heaved a sigh. "Sorry, I'm just out of it. I think I just need some air. I'm going to go see what Al is up to. See you later."

After Rose stood up and left, the others turned to each other.

"She does know we're on a train, right?" said Aiden. "I mean it's all the same air…"

Ella and Emily just rolled their eyes.

* * *

Wandering down the train corridor, Rose was lost in her thoughts. Standing at the forefront of her memory were the fuzzy events from the night before…

(FLASHBACK)

_Stumbling down the seventh floor corridor, due to the five shots of firewhiskey she had consumed at the party, Rose climbed the stairs leading up to the Astronomy Tower with a bottle of stolen firewhiskey in her grasp. Fuming as she reached the top, she went to sit down near the ledge and thought back to the argument that she'd just had with her boyfriend._

"_How could he actually believe that I would think men are naturally better at flying than women?" she wondered aloud to herself. "I mean is he actually an idiot? He's in Ravenclaw for fuck's sake."_

"_Talking to yourself Weasels? I always knew you were a bit crazy."_

_Rose gasped and swiveled around, almost toppling over in the process. Smirking at her from the doorway was her cousin's best friend, Scorpius Malfoy._

"_Ferret! You scared me!" Rose scolded, using the nickname she'd copied from her father. "And you almost made me drop this!" she slurred, lifting the bottle._

"_Should you really be drinking up here near a ledge? I hear that can lead to bad consequences."_

"_What are you, my mother?" she retorted._

_Scorpius chuckled softly. "No Weasels, I'm not your mother. Which is why instead of reprimanding you, I'm going to join you," he said, surprising her._

_As he came over to sit next to her, Rose stared thoughtfully at the boy she could only label as her 'frenemy.' Warned by her father, from the first day at King's Cross, not to get too close to the Malfoy boy and to beat him at every test, Rose had been surprised to learn that he was sort of a decent guy. Her favorite cousin, Albus Potter, had befriended Scorpius on the train to school that first day, and then surprised the entire Weasley-Potter extended family by later following Scorpius and being sorted into Slytherin. Yet no one in the family had held it against him. Well other than Rose's father for that short while. _

_However from day one, Scorpius and Rose had gotten off on the wrong foot. On their very first train ride, Scorpius had made a friendly joke at Rose's expense that she took to heart, and since then they'd never been the best of friends. Nor had they been enemies, though, as everyone expected them to be. Being in the same group of friends, they were forced to deal with each other's presence on a daily basis, and had grown to have a certain tolerance for each other. They were both top of their year, and while they competed viciously for the better grades, they could also be found in the Library studying together from time to time._

_There was also another reason that Rose had never made the effort to get to know Scorpius more. It was a reason that she had never told anyone, not even Ella or Emily. _

"_I know I'm handsome and all, Weasels, but are you just going to stare at me or pass me the bottle?" drawled Scorpius, interrupting Rose's musings._

_Breaking out of her trance, Rose hurriedly looked away. "Ha ha, very funny," she said, sarcastically. "Here." She thrust the bottle at him._

_Scorpius took a nice long drink out of the bottle, and let out a hiss. "Fuck, that burns."_

_Rose smirked as she grabbed the bottle back, took a swig out of it, and set it down in between them._

"_So Weasels, what are you doing up here talking to yourself? Shouldn't you be down at the party with your arsehole boyfriend?"_

"_How many time have I told you not to call me 'Weasels', Ferret?" Rose reminded him, rolling her eyes._

"_About as many times as I've told you not to call me 'Ferret,'" replied Scorpius, not missing a beat. _

"_Fair enough, although you'll have to take that up with my father," she told him. "And in answer to your question, I am not down at the party because that tosser I call my boyfriend, for some unknown reason right now, is being an absolute prat. And if I go back down there I will probably hex him into the new year, and I don't fancy a stint in Azkaban over the holidays," she finished, taking another long drink of the firewhiskey._

"_Oh? Trouble in paradise?" Scorpius said, lifting his eyebrow._

_Rose sighed. "You could say that. Tell me something, Ferret, if you were talking to your girlfriend about Quidditch, and you knew that she absolutely loved the sport, would you tell her, and I quote," she cleared her throat to imitate Zach, "'blokes are just more naturally talented at flying babe, even you know that.' Would you?!" _

_Scorpius laughed. "Well you know I'm not Corner's biggest fan, but even for him, that's pretty fucking stupid."_

_Rose let out an exasperated sigh. "I swear to Circe, for a Ravenclaw, he is quite thick sometimes. And then he didn't even understand why I was mad. Did he really think I would agree with him?"_

"_I have to say, it's quite refreshing to hear you rag on him for once," chuckled Scorpius ignoring Rose's question. "Usually it's just me trying to rile you up by insulting him."_

"_Yeah well, it might be the firewhiskey, but I'm starting to agree with you," said Rose, with a slight slur._

"_I think that's definitely the firewhiskey talking." murmured Scorpius, eyes growing slightly hazy from the liquor. _

"_Anyways, I don't want to talk about Zach anymore, it'll just upset me. How are things with you and that fifth year?" asked Rose, too drunk to bother remembering what Scorpius' girlfriend's name was. _

_Scorpius took the bottle from beside Rose, and took another drink out of it, then set it back down. "Does that answer your question?"_

_Rose let out a quiet laugh. "That bad, huh?"_

"_No, it isn't. Not really. It's just sometimes Ava can be a bit…"_

"_Clingy? Needy? Self-involved and annoying?" Rose supplied._

_Scorpius turned to stare at her, raising his eyebrows. _

"_Sorry, it's just she always seems to be hanging off of your arm or talking your ear off…"_

_Scorpius continued to stare blankly at her._

"… _and Al might've mentioned something." Rose added quietly, avoiding his eyes._

"_I knew it! I knew Al didn't like her," Scorpius grumbled._

"_No, it's not that he doesn't like her! It's just… well he told me that sometimes when you two are hanging out, she comes along and immediately tries directs all the attention onto her."_

_Scorpius heaved a sigh, "I guess that is sort of true. Honestly, I've been thinking about breaking up with her."_

_Rose raised her eyebrows. "Oh? Is that why you disappeared tonight?" Scorpius shot her a questioning glance. "I saw you guys at the beginning of the party, but then like twenty minutes later, you were gone."_

"_Looking for me, were you Weasels? I knew it, you do fancy me! All those insults you throw at me are just masking your love, aren't they?" Scorpius said dramatically, winking at her. _

_Rolling her eyes, Rose said, "No you prat. Al came to ask me if I'd seen where you'd gone, and that's when I noticed you weren't there anymore."_

"_Don't get your knickers in a twist, Weasels, I was just teasing you," smirked Scorpius. _

_Rose just rolled her eyes again. _

"_And to answer your question, I was going to break up with Ava, but then she distracted me."_

"_Distracted you?" asked Rose, confused._

"_Yeah, distracted me," said Scorpius._

"_Oh ew, Ferret! I do NOT need to know about what you two do in broom closets!"_

_Rolling his eyes, Scorpius took the bottle again. "Not what I meant actually. No, she distracted me by pouring out some sob story about how Amy Peakes' boyfriend dumped her before the holidays, and how she's so lucky to have me. I couldn't break up with her after that," Scorpius sighed, obviously frustrated._

"_Fair enough, I suppose. So what, you're just going to wait until after holidays to break up with her?"_

"_Probably. Maybe. I don't know really, maybe I should think it over a bit. And I probably shouldn't make any decisions while drinking this," he said, indicating the bottle._

_Rose snatched it back an took a large swig. "And that's the last of it. We did quite well Ferret."_

_Scorpius grinned at her. _

"_You know," Rose mused, "I think this is the longest civil conversation we've ever had." _

"_You might be right Weasels," he agreed._

"_Is it sad that this conversation might also be better than half the ones I've had with Zach?"_

"_Yes. Yes it is sad," Scorpius said, bluntly. _

_Rose moved forward and punched him in the arm._

"_Ow!" Scorpius rubbed his arm. "That bloody hurt, you nutter!"_

"_Well you deserved it you git. You were supposed to say no, and that you're sure he and I have had many good conversations, and that we're perfect for each other, and-"_

"_Sorry Weasels, my mother taught me to never lie," interrupted Scorpius, still rubbing his arm._

_Rose sighed, and lay down to look up at the sky. "I suppose I should've expected that."_

_Silence hung over them for a few minutes._

"_For what it's worth," began Scorpius, slurring slightly and laying down next to her, "I think you can do better than him, Rose."_

_Rose turned to look at Scorpius disbelievingly. "Wow, my actual name! What warranted that?"_

_Scorpius chuckled softly, shaking his head. Turning his gaze towards her, his steel gray eyes met her icy blue ones. Despite their drunkenness, both were quite alert at the moment. _

"_I'm being serious here, Rose. You can do better than Corner. You're brilliant, charming, determined, and not too hard on the eyes either," he said, looking sincere. "You can do so much better than Corner," he repeated._

_Tension filling the air, Rose was speechless. Feeling a bit dizzy from the alcohol, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try and steady herself. Opening her eyes once again, she saw Scorpius still staring at her, as though it was the first time he was really seeing her. _

"_I think that might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me," she joked, trying to ease up the situation._

_He didn't laugh. If anything, he grew more serious._

"_Well it's true. All of it. I meant every word," he said earnestly, his eyes growing a bit hazy. He moved out a hand to tuck a piece of her curly hair behind her ear, moving closer to her in the process._

_Rose stayed frozen. Scorpius' lips moved closer to her own, and she found herself unable and unwilling to move at all._

"_Rose, I- "_

_Suddenly, there was a loud crash from below causing both of them to quickly spring apart._

_No longer frozen in the moment, Rose gathered herself. _

"_Damn, that'll probably be Peeves. Or worse, Filch. We'd better go before we get a detention to start off the new year," Rose said, avoiding Scorpius' eyes. Grabbing his wrist, she looked at his watch. "Merlin, it's already two. And I haven't even finished packing," she groaned._

"_Yeah," coughed Scorpius, nervously taking his arm back. He got up, and held out a hand to help her up. She grasped it, stood up and dusted her pants off, then took out her wand and vanished the Firewhiskey bottle. _

_They both descended down the steps quietly. At the bottom of the staircase, Rose took out the Marauders Map and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."_

"_Does Albus know you have that?"_

"_Yeah, I asked him for it when I left the party. Wanted to avoid Zach for as long as possible," she answered, still looking at the map. "We're in luck, it's just Peeves. Looks like he's moving down towards the fourth floor classrooms, which means we should be in the clear. Mischief Managed," she whispered, as they exited the tower._

"_Well I'm headed this way," he said, indicating the way to the dungeons._

"_And I'm this way," she said, pointing towards the seventh floor, and Gryffindor Tower. _

"_Goodnight then, Rose," Scorpius said, shooting her a slight smile._

"_Night, Scorpius. See you on the train tomorrow?" Rose asked, smiling hesitantly._

"_Yeah, see you on the train," he chuckled. And with that, he turned and began to walk towards the stairs that led down to the dungeons. _

_As Rose walked towards her dorm, still a bit drunk, she thought about what had been about to happen before the crash. Had Scorpius nearly kissed her? It had been the most serious she had ever seen him._

_Pushing it out of her mind, she gave the password to the Fat Lady, stumbled through the portrait hole, up the stairs, and into her bed, convincing herself that it was just the firewhiskey. There was nothing happening between her and Scorpius Malfoy._

_Was there…?_

(PRESENT TIME)

Shaking herself out of her memories, Rose continued down the train corridor. There was nothing happening between herself and Scorpius, she repeated in her head, _nothing_. He probably didn't even remember what had happened with the amount they'd had to drink. Yes, that was it. They'd had a bit too much to drink, and he'd just been comforting her about her prat boyfriend.

She stopped dead. Her boyfriend. _Her boyfriend_. Despite having been in a fight, Zach was still her boyfriend, and she'd come quite close to kissing another boy.

Shaking her head, she continued walking. Enough, she told herself. She and Scorpius were friends. And that was all. They hadn't even kissed.

So why did she feel so guilty?

Distracted by her thoughts, Rose didn't notice that she had passed the very subject of them.

"Oi, Weasels!" Scorpius called out.

Rose turned and found Scorpius holding open the door of a carriage, looking at her strangely.

Startled, Rose straightened up and replied, "Oh, Ferret, I didn't see you there."

He beckoned her towards the compartment. Gathering herself, Rose walked after him, and upon entering the carriage found Scorpius sitting with two other girls.

One of the girls, a short blonde with a slim build, looked up with a smile that faltered slightly at the sight of Rose.

Turning to the girl, Rose smiled politely and said, "Hello Ava."

The fifth year gave her a tight smile before turning back to Scorpius and grabbing his hand possessively. Looking back at Scorpius, Rose shot him a questioning look, but he hadn't noticed Ava's behavior.

The other occupant of the carriage, a seventh year girl with choppy black hair and piercing grey eyes, hadn't even looked up upon Rose's arrival. Ignoring everyone else, Melanie Nott continued to read her newspaper as if there had been no interruption in the first place.

"Nott," Rose acknowledged.

Without looking up, Melanie waved nonchalantly in response.

"You looking for Al?" Scorpius asked casually, still not noticing his girlfriend's strained smile.

"Yeah, have you seen him?"

"No, I was just about to go looking for him myself. Mels and I haven't seen him since we got on the train."

"Oh! I know where he is," interrupted Ava, looking pleased with herself. "Christa Chen told Jeff, who told Ben, who told Evie, who told Amy, who told me that he's in the second to last compartment on the other side of the train talking to Darcy," she continued, smiling to herself.

Scorpius and Rose turned and stared at her blankly, their mouths slightly ajar, while Mels rolled her eyes in annoyance at the younger girl's chipper response.

"What?" Ava asked, looking confused.

Scorpius cleared his throat. "Nothing, love. Um, do you mind if I go sit with Al for a while then?" he asked her. Rose hid her smirk at the Slytherin having to ask his girlfriend for permission.

"No that's fine Scor Scor," she answered sweetly, as Rose stifled a snort and Mels choked back a derisive laugh. "I'm going to find Amy anyways. Poor thing is still a wreck over her break up. Come find me before we get to the station?"

Looking embarrassed at Rose and Melanie hearing Ava's awful nickname for him, Scorpius turned red and muttered, "Yeah, sure."

"Ok, bye!" Shooting Rose a quick suspicious look, she pecked Scorpius on the lips and exited the compartment.

Turning to the other girls, Scorpius was met with the sight of Rose and Melanie both doubled up in laughter.

"'_Scor Scor_?'" Mels sniggered, bending over from laughter. "Merlin, Scorp, how do you stand her?"

"Don't. Say. A. Word." Scorpius commanded through clenched teeth. "I _loathe _it when she calls me that, but she just won't stop. It's worse than 'Ferret,'" he groaned.

"Oh I will definitely be saying more than a word about it, most likely to Lorcan, Al, and Aiden. This is too good to let go of that easily, Ferret."

Scorpius just let out another groan. "Let's just go find your cousin before I strangle you. Mels you want to come?"

"And see Al pine over Darcy the entire time? Bloody hell no, I get enough of that at school," replied Melanie, going back to her newspaper.

"Fair enough. Well if I don't see you before we get to the station, have fun in Spain," said Scorpius.

"Thanks Scorp. And be sure not to strangle yourself when Al talks about Darcy during the entire break," snickered Melanie.

Scorpius just rolled his eyes as Rose waved goodbye.

Leaving the carriage, the two turned and began their long walk to the end of the train.

* * *

Twenty minutes later they were still walking down the train after being held up by the line for the food trolley.

"Why the bloody hell is this train so long?" complained Rose. "Thank Merlin the fifth year Prefects got stuck patrolling instead of us."

"Merlin, it's only been twenty minutes, are you that out of shape?" Scorpius retorted, earning Rose's glare, which he promptly ignored.

Rose had been hoping that Scorpius might give some indication as to whether he remembered the night before, but so far he had been acting like his normal self around her.

"I mean I know that you don't exercise much Weasley…"

Ahead of them, Rose began to hear soft voices, one slightly more familiar than the rest.

"… and you eat like your dad, but that doesn't mean- mmphh!"

Rose cut him off by grabbing his arm, covering his mouth, and swinging him backwards with surprising strength. "Shhhh!"

Scorpius jerked away from her, freeing himself. "Weasels, for Dumbledore's sake, what the fuck are you doing!?"

"Shhhhh!" she hissed, quickly covering his mouth again and turning to face away from the voice. But it was too late.

"Rose?" came the familiar voice, causing both Rose and Scorpius to freeze. Stepping out of the compartment behind them was a tall boy with short dark brown hair and light powder blue eyes.

Rose quickly straightened up and let go of Scorpius. Closing her eyes quickly and taking a deep breath, she plastered a smile on her face and turned around to face the newcomer.

"Zach," she greeted quickly. "Hi."

"Hey babe, I thought I heard your name. I've been looking for you," Zach smiled back hesitantly, trying to gauge her feelings after the night before.

"Really?" Scorpius interjected. "Because we've been walking around this train for twenty minutes now, and didn't see you at all. Must've missed you," he scoffed, sarcastically.

"I meant earlier, _Malfoy_," Zach sneered at Scorpius. Turning to Rose he smiled tenderly and said, "I found the Emily and Ella in their carriage, but you weren't there. They said you'd left to find Potter."

"Yeah, I was feeling cramped in the compartment, so I decided to take a walk. Scorpius here found me and decided to tag along," she replied shortly, avoiding looking directly at the Ravenclaw. Zach eyebrows slightly rose at her use of Scorpius' first name, while Scorpius' slight smile went unnoticed by the other two.

"Well I was hoping we could talk… about last night?" Zach asked.

"Oh, I don't know Zach, I really need to find Al-"

"Please love, it'll only take a minute, I promise," he prodded, giving her a pleading look.

Rose hesitated, shooting a quick questioning glance at Scorpius, who gave a slight shrug of his shoulders as if to say, sarcastically, "By all means."

Rose sighed. "I'll just be a minute then Ferret, yeah?"

Scorpius gave a noncommittal grunt as Zach took Rose's hand to lead her into the empty compartment across from his own.

"Alright Zach what is i- mmmph!"

Rose's questions was immediately cut of by Zach's lips attacking her own. Putting one hand on her hip, and then other behind her neck, he drew her as close as possible, not noticing her stiffness or lack of response. Just as quickly as it began, the kiss ended.

Rose pushed Zach away. "Zach!" she protested.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I know I was a prat yesterday, I never should have brought up the Quidditch issue."

"No you shouldn't have," she huffed.

"I know, and I am sorry. I know how you get about the topic of Quidditch, I was just being an idiot." He moved closer to her, taking her hands and intertwining their fingers. "Forgive me?" he murmured, moving closer to her lips.

Rose sighed. She was still frustrated that he didn't seem to grasp the real reason it bothered her, but at the same time unwilling to pursue to subject.

"Yeah, sure. It's fine. Really. But I have to go. Don't want to keep Malfoy waiting for too long." She gave him a quick peck on the lips, hoping that it would satisfy him.

Zach scoffed, and tried to pulled her back for a longer kiss. "Since when do you care about Malfoy?"

Rose put her hands up against his chest. "I don't," she clarified, though the statement felt strange on her lips. "But we're still trying to find Al. I'll see you later, ok? Maybe before we get to the station?" she added, putting on smile in order to convince him everything was ok.

Luckily, it worked.

"Yeah, ok babe," Zach smiled, relieved that everything seemed to be resolved. He put his hands on her hips once again to draw her in for another kiss.

Not wanting to alert him to the frustration she was still feeling, Rose allowed him to kiss her. As his lips moved warmly against her own, Rose found herself letting the world slip away, and allowed herself to respond and enjoy the kiss.

Spurred on by her response, Zach moved his right hand under her auburn hair, and began to gently massage the base of her neck while deepening the kiss. Lifting her hands from his chest, she put her arms around his neck to pull him closer. Smiling into her mouth, he gently nudged her lips open with his tongue, begging for entrance. Moving her hands to his hair, she tangled her fingers in his brunette locks, and opened her lips slightly to let his tongue explore her mouth a bit.

Smiling at her positive response, Zach drew back as Rose sighed. Opening her eyes, she smiled back genuinely at her boyfriend.

"You know, I was thinking maybe over the holidays you might want to come meet my family?" he asked, looking hopeful.

Snapping out of her happy place, Rose's eyes widened and she stared at him in shock. They'd only been dating for less that two months!

"Rose?"

Forcing herself to act normally, Rose looked back up at Zach and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, maybe," she said in a slightly strangled voice. "I'll have to check what my plans are… c-can I get back to you on that?"

Slightly disappointed, but trying not showing it outwardly, Zach nodded at her.

As they exited the compartment, Scorpius looked up, his face looking bored.

"Ready?" he asked Rose, tightly, while shooting an odd look at Zach, who glared back at him.

"Yeah, let's go," replied Rose, still in a slight state of shock. She turned to her boyfriend to say a quick goodbye, but was instead pulled into another sweeping kiss. Not as responsive as before, she let Zach kiss her before gently pushing him away. "Ok then, bye Zach," she said quickly, before he could delay her anymore.

"Bye babe." He smiled warmly at her. "Malfoy," he nodded curtly. And with that he stepped back into his compartment to rejoin his friends, but not before shooting a covert smirk at Scorpius.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I _really _don't like that guy," he huffed at Rose.

"Oh don't start now," Rose groaned, "let's just go find Al, preferably with no more interruptions."

Thinking Rose's mood was because she was still mad at Corner, Scorpius smiled to himself, and gestured ahead. "Ladies first then, Weasels."

* * *

"Finally!"

Albus Potter looked up from the girl sitting opposite of him and met the sight of his two best friends looking at him in relief. He groaned inwardly, and then immediately felt guilty. He loved them both, but he had just been enjoying his private chat with Darcy Wood, the object of his desires for the past three years.

"Rose, Scorpius! How lovely to see you guys," Darcy said genuinely, polite as ever.

Darcy Wood was the quintessential "girl next door." A sixth year Hufflepuff, she was the daughter of Oliver Wood, Puddlemere United's keeper, and the perfect girl in Al's eyes. She was intelligent, friendly to everyone, beautiful with curly blonde hair and gorgeous violet eyes, as well as a fierce Quidditch player, inheriting her father's Keeper skills. There wasn't a single person in Hogwarts who could say a negative thing about her.

Unfortunately for Al, she also happened to be dating Callum Davies, a seventh year Ravenclaw.

"Darcy," Rose greeted, before turning to her cousin. "Al, we've been looking for you _everywhere_! I've had to deal with _his,_" she jerked her head, indicating Scorpius, "presence for over thirty minutes. Merlin, could you have chosen a compartment any further away?" Walking in the carriage, she collapsed on the seat next to Darcy, sending the other girl a smile.

Al rolled his eyes at his cousins dramatic showing, as Scorpius took the seat next to him.

"For once, mate, I think I'm going to have to agree with Weasels. I mean, have you ever had to walk with her for longer than ten minutes? It's absolutely unbearable!" he said, smirking at Rose the entire time, as she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Oh real mature Weasels. Really," he turned to Al, "how am I supposed to survive the entire break?"

Darcy looked up at Al questioningly. "The entire break?"

Al turned to her. "Yeah, Scorp's parents are going on a 'second honeymoon,' as they like to call it, to France," stated Al, as Scorpius made a disgusted face. "They gave him the option of going with them or coming to stay with my family for the holidays, and you can guess what he chose," finished Al.

"Well, would you want to go on a," Scorpius shuddered, "'second honeymoon' with your parents?"

"Nah mate. And you know I'm glad you decided to come to mine for the break," Al said, punching Scorpius in the arm, as Darcy smiled at their easy camaraderie.

"Ow! What is it with all you Weasleys and Potters and punching my arm?" he grumbled.

Rose froze. Was he referring to the previous night? Did he remember? And if he remembered her punching his arm, did that mean he remembered what had followed?

"So you're all going to be at the Burrow for the break then?" Darcy asked, interrupting Rose's thoughts.

"Not the entire time," Al answered. "My family and Scorp will be in Godric's Hollow for most of the time, and then we'll all go to the Burrow for Christmas Eve and day. It's tradition," he added, grinning.

"Oh that sounds lovely," sighed Darcy enviously. "Christmas for us is nice, but small. Just me, my parents, J.D., Dante, and now his fiancé Stella," smiled Darcy.

"But sometimes smaller is nicer," Al noted, smiling at her. Rose and Scorpius looked at each other, sharing a small smirk over their friend's obvious crush.

"Yeah I guess… and, well, um Callum has asked me to come over for Christmas dinner this year, to meet his parents," she added softly, as if hoping no one would hear her.

Forgetting she was in the same predicament as Darcy, Rose's head immediately snapped to Albus. Scorpius imitated her.

Albus maintained a tight smile, and quickly said, "Oh, well that's nice I suppose."

"Yeah, I suppose it is," Darcy said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "I just, well I dunno ,we've been dating for almost a year now, but it still feels a little fast."

Rose and Scorpius turned to each other once more, questioning looks in their eyes. A silent message passed between them, after which Rose immediately stood up and said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Al, I actually came here to fetch you. Aiden and Lorcan need you help with some Weasley products that they got from Fred and Louis." she lied. "And you know those two. We don't want them blowing up the bloody train," she continued, laughing nervously.

"Oh, um alright." Turning to Darcy, Al smiled and said, "Well Darcy I guess I'll see you when we come back. Have a good break, yeah?"

"You too Al," she said softly, giving him a warm smile. She stood up and hugged him, catching him by surprise. Slowly his arms encircled her, hugging her back. "Maybe… maybe I'll see you over the holidays?" she asked.

Clearing his throat, Al replied, "Yeah maybe. Aiden and Ella might be having a New Years party. If they do I'll tell Ella to owl you with the details."

"That'd be lovely," she told him, her violet eyes twinkling.

"Well we'd better get going," Scorpius said loudly. "Not sure what those two idiots will get up to with your uncle's joke shop products Al."

"Yeah, of course. See you around Darcy."

"Bye guys, have a wonderful break," she said. She gave Rose a quick hug and waved at Scorpius as the trio exited the compartment.

* * *

"Why, _why _do I do this to myself?" Al groaned as they got back to their friends' compartment.

Aiden, Emily, Lorcan, and Ella looked up from their game of exploding snap, just as one of the cards exploded, nearly singeing Lorcan's eyebrows.

"Damn it Al, I was just about to win!" cried Aiden.

Ignoring him, Al flung himself down on a seat and went on. "She has a boyfriend. A _boyfriend_. Why can't I just move on?" he asked, addressing no one in particular.

The others looked around at each other, having encountered this situation many times before. Silently, they tried to figure out who's turn it was to answer and reassure Albus.

Finally Rose took charge.

"Al, for what it's worth, she looked really happy while talking to you," sighed Rose. "And she didn't even look excited when she mentioned being invited to Callum's for dinner, right Ferret?" she finished, looking to Scorpius for confirmation.

He nodded. "She's right Al."

"It doesn't matter. The fact is she's still with him, and I've been pining over her for three years," mumbled Al. "Merlin, _three years_! I need to move on."

"Well mate, I'm looking for a wingman. You want in? Lonely, desperate birds during the holiday season, just ripe for the plucking," smirked Lorcan, dodging hits from Ella and Emily.

"_Disgusting_. You are absolutely _awful_," chided Ella.

Lorcan just grinned at her. "You love me anyways," he sang, making Ella roll her eyes, though a smile played on her lips.

"Al don't listen to him. Look I'm not telling you to keep pining over her, and I'm not telling you to move on. All I'm saying is I know what I saw, and she looked really happy while talking to you," Rose clarified.

Al sighed. "I dunno, I just need to think on it. It's been so long since I've even thought of another girl. I mean the last girlfriend I had was… the beginning of fifth year? Is that right? Fuck, I need to move on."

The others looked at each other again, not knowing what to say.

"Sorry to drag you down guys. This isn't how I wanted to start the holidays." muttered Al.

Forcing himself to snap out of it, he straightened up, put on a smile, and changed the topic. "How about we talk about this New Year's party you're throwing," he added, grinning at the twins.

Aiden and Ella looked at each other before turning to Al with identical smiles.

"It should go according to plan. Mum and Dad are going to some party thrown by his firm," confided Aiden, "so they'll be gone out most of the evening. Dad usually makes sure they stay most of the night since he's still trying to make partner."

Rose noticed that Ella's smile tightened at the mention of her parents. She made a mental note to ask her friend about that later.

"As long as we get everyone out by around two in the morning, we should be fine," finished Aiden, smiling at his plan.

"Excellent," said Scorpius and Lorcan at the same time, grinning at each other.

"New Years is Sunday, so we were thinking you lot could just stay over at the mansion that Saturday, and help us set up for the party the next day," added Ella.

The group nodded, agreeing with her plan.

"I can't," Emily moaned. "My dad would throw a fit if he knew Aiden and I were staying under the same roof, even with supervision. He's still not used to his 'little girl' dating, despite the fact that we've been together since fourth year."

Ella and Rose shot her supportive looks, and Aiden pulled her into his embrace. "We'll figure something out Ems," he promised, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

Feeling sympathetic, Rose tried to cheer her friend up. "Hey you lot, guess who's girlfriend calls him 'Scor Scor,'" she said, grinning maniacally.

Scorpius groaned and shrunk down into his seat.

* * *

"Hey guys, I think we're nearing the station," remarked Lorcan, a few hours later. "Best get our stuff together."

The seven of them grabbed their stuff, and began to leave the compartment. Following Emily out of the carriage, Rose headed through the train towards the exit.

Stepping out of the train, she immediately saw a huddle of redheads not too far off. Her brother and cousins had all exited the train before, and found their parents.

She turned towards Ella and Aiden who had also spotted their mother in the distance.

"So are we still set for shopping in Diagon Alley on Monday Rose?" asked Ella.

"Yeah, it's a date," replied Rose, hugging her best friend. "I'll owl you with the details. Em, are you sure you can't come?"

Emily shook her head. "No, I have to babysit Daniel while my Dad is finishing up grading papers at school and my Mum is working at the restaurant. But drop by the Leaky Cauldron and say hi while you're there, yeah?" she told Rose and Ella.

"Of course," they both replied, hugging her in turn.

"Oh I see my Mum. Aiden, I think she's waving us over."

"Alright Ems. Ella, tell Mum I'll only be a minute, yeah?" Aiden directed his sister. She nodded and he set of to say hi to his girlfriend's mother.

"Ella!" Evelyn Zabini called out, waving.

Ella smiled tightly at her mum before turning back to Rose. "See ya later babe," she said with a wink. Rose laughed and waved as Ella walked towards her mum.

Before she could turn towards her family, Rose felt her arm being tugged. She turned around to find Al pulling her.

"Rose, the Malfoys want to say hi to us before we leave," he said, indicating to where Scorpius was talking to his parents. Rose followed Albus eagerly over towards the couple standing beside Scorpius.

Despite having some issues with their son, Rose got along very well with Scorpius' parents, especially his father. Draco Malfoy, while proud and arrogant at Hogwarts, had matured into a much better man in the years following the end of the war. He had broken away from his father's authority, fallen in love with and married a Ravenclaw girl, and started a family away from his father's prejudicial influence. He had even made peace with the Potters and Weasleys- well most of the Weasleys- after his son had become best friends with the youngest male Potter.

But above all else, Rose found in Draco Malfoy a mentor. He had trained and become a Healer, which was the profession she was interested in. On his part, Draco had taken a great liking to the feisty daughter of his childhood enemy, who seemed to challenge his son as well as him.

"Rose, you're looking as beautiful as ever!" exclaimed Astoria Malfoy, hugging the girl she too had grown quite fond of. "Your mother's genes are really kicking in," she said, winking.

Rose let out a small laugh. "Thanks Mrs. Malfoy."

"Please dear, it's Astoria."

"Mum please don't compliment her, it'll just inflate her ego even more," groaned Scorpius, dodging a kick from Rose.

"Now Scorpius, stop that. Your mother's right," scolded Draco. "Rose, my dear, you are looking lovely," he said, smiling warmly at Rose

"Thanks Mr. Malfoy. And is that a new suit? Looking sharp as ever," she grinned back at him.

Scorpius groaned. "Al, _what _did I ever do to deserve parents who like your cousin probably more than they like me?"

Al just grinned, but remained silent.

"I can't help it Scorpius, she's like the daughter I never had," gushed Astoria.

"Alright, alright, enough of this before you decided to adopt Rose into the family," Scorpius said, shuddering at the thought.

"Well we just wanted to come and see you before we left, son," Draco told him. "Now you can get into the manor while we're gone if you need anything, but you should know I've put some preventative spells on the house to stop you from throwing any parties and such and such."

"Thanks for the trust Dad," came Scorpius' sarcastic response.

"You're welcome son!" Draco laughed, clapping his son on the back. "Anyways Tori, we'd better get going. Don't want to miss the portkey to Paris. Rose have a wonderful holiday. Albus tell your parents thank you, and make sure this son of mine stays out of trouble."

Albus saluted him. "Yes sir!"

"And Albus dear, wish your entire family Merry Christmas, and tell your mother I'll owl her about the fundraiser plans after I get back," Astoria added, kissing all three sixth years on their cheeks. "Bye!"

Turning, the Malfoys left towards the barrier while Rose, Albus, and Scorpius turned to lug their trunks towards the Weasley-Potter clan.

Surprisingly, they found just the Potters waiting for them.

"Where did everyone else go?" remarked Al, after receiving a hug and kiss from Ginny.

"We decided to go in groups so it would be more organized," replied Harry, clapping Scorpius on the back and then throwing an arm around Rose. "Rose I told your mum and dad that you'd come home with us, then floo from Godric's Hollow. Is that alright?"

"Sure Uncle Harry, that's fine," Rose said, as Ginny went to hug Scorpius as well.

"Could you guys have taken _any_ longer?" droned James, with a lazy grin on his face. He punched his little brother in the arm in greeting then shot a smirk at Scorpius.

"Sorry, that was my fault. My parents wanted to say a quick bye," said Scorpius. "Oh and my parents said to thank you for letting me stay, Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

"James!" Ginny scolded her oldest son. "Scorpius it's fine, we weren't waiting for long. James is just being a prat, as usual. And it's Ginny, dear," she added, smiling.

"Mum!" James feigned shock and hurt. "That hurts me. Right here!" he said, dramatically clutching his chest.

"Alright, let's go before your mother curses James with her Bat Bogey Hex," stated Harry, as they all turned to head towards the barrier. "Wouldn't _that _be quite the interesting start to the holidays."

Everyone laughed except James, who grumbled to himself all the way to the car.

As she crawled into bed later that night, greeted by the familiar warmth of her room, Rose reflected on the past twenty-four hours. First, she and Scorpius had had a strange bonding session, resulting in an almost kiss that she desperately needed to forget about. Then, as usual, Al was having girl troubles that she felt obligated to help him with, being his favorite cousin and best friend. And then there was something going on with Ella that she needed to figure out. Finally, Rose had to deal with the possibility of meeting Zach's parents.

Switching the light off by her bed, she cleared every single complicated thought out of her head and prepared to sleep. The last thought that passed through her head, as she drifted off to sleep, was that it was going to be an interesting two weeks.

* * *

**AN: And there's the first chapter. This one was mostly setting up the events of Christmas break, and giving a little background on where the characters are at right now, but I hope you all enjoyed it anyways. As always, reviews would be much appreciated!**

**Next up (Ch. 2): Shopping in Diagon Alley and a look into what's going on with Ella. **


	3. A Day In Diagon Alley

**AN: I am literally the worst person EVER. I am so sorry for keeping you guys waiting for this long, the last two weeks were literally hell for me. Just midterms and papers all over the place. **

**But I can promise you I'm not abandoning this fic at all. In fact the reason it's taken so long to update, in addition to my hectic life, is that I want these chapters to be perfect. I always hate when one chapter is really good in a fic, and the next chapter is total crap, so I wanted to make sure that wasn't the case. **

**I also want to thank all the reviewers. Your reviews were awesome, and were what spurred me on to write this next chapter. So enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Anything recognizable is owned by Queen Rowling. **

**Monday, December 19th, 2022**

**Zabini Estate, Upper Flagely, Yorkshire, 10am**

Ella awoke Monday morning to find a piece of parchment on top of her face. Cursing her brother, who she knew could be the only one responsible, she sat up assuming the parchment would fall off her face.

It didn't.

"Bloody hell Aiden. A sticking charm? Really?" she muttered, maneuvering her hands around her bedside table in search of her wand. Finding it, she quickly muttered the counter spell and caught the piece of parchment as it floated down. Rubbing her eyes, she read the note.

_E-_

_Went to Ems' to help baby-sit__ her brother. If you see any of my teammates while shopping today, don't tell them where I am. I skipped out on 'team bonding' to help Em. If they ask, mum has me running errands all day. Cheers!_

_Your better looking brother,_

_-A_

_PS: Find out if mum and dad are definitely going to his company's New Years party._

Rolling her eyes at her brother's antics, Ella got out of bed and went to the window to see what the weather was like. Looking out onto the Manor grounds, she couldn't help but take it all in.

The Zabini Estate was quite a large one, even larger than Malfoy Manor. Ella's paternal grandmother had been a famously beautiful witch with a penchant for marrying rich men, then inheriting their gold when they died. Ella's father had been her only son, thus inheriting the entire fortune as well as the mansion when she had passed on. Blaise Zabini had been barely 22 years old when his mother passed away. At the time he had no need for such a large estate, and believed even if he did have a family he wouldn't need such a large place. Intent on selling the place, Mr. Zabini found a small interior decorating company, run by a witch, to spruce the place up and make it more appealing and modern.

That was how he met Evelyn Carmichael, the company's main decorator, and a half-blood witch. Upon seeing the estate, Evelyn fell in love with it at first sight. After six months of spending time together going over ideas, Blaise finally made his move. One year later, they were married with no intent to sell the Zabini estate at all. After all the estate was the initial cause of their meeting; it was part of their shared history. A few months after that, Evelyn found out she was pregnant with the twins and promptly quit her job. Despite her love of decorating, she wanted to raise her kids and be involved in their lives.

Moving away from the window, Ella went to write a quick note to Rose. Taking a piece of parchment from her desk she wrote down a few lines, telling Rose to meet her a Flourish and Blotts at eleven.

"Athena, come her girl," she coaxed, whistling to get her owl's attention. A gorgeous white owl flew out of its cage over to the desk. "Take this to Rose at her house in Chudleigh, ok?"

Cooing, the owl accepted the note and nipped affectionately at Ella's hand before flying out the window.

Turning to her wardrobe Ella chose a red jumper, blue denim skirt, and stockings to wear for the day. Going in to her bathroom, she quickly showered and dried her hair with her wand. Back in her room, she was surprised to see Athena had already returned with Rose's response. Crossing the room, she took the note from the owl's leg.

_El-_

_Sounds good. Just to let you know, the entire Ravenclaw team is going to be there today. If you see Zach before you see me, DO NOT tell him you're meeting me. He wanted to meet up this afternoon, but I'm still avoiding him. Fill you in later._

_See you soon,_

_Rose xxx_

Suppressing a smirk, Ella fed Athena a treat, threw on some ballet flats, and headed out her bedroom towards the stairs leading to the kitchen. As she neared the first floor, she heard her parents' hushed voices. Curious, she stopped before the last step and leaned closer to hear what they were saying."

"… please I just want to make this right."

"I know you do Blaise, I know. But I just need some time," came her mother's weary voice.

"I know I fucked up, alright? But it was a mistake, I swear. It was a lapse in judgment. You were being distant after your father had passed, and I "

"So you're going to try and blame this on me?!" her mother's voice suddenly turned angry.

"No! Of course not," pleaded her father, retreating immediately. "No this was completely my fault. I'm just saying that things between us were tense, and it was affecting me. But of course this wasn't your fault. Please Evie, I just want to fix this. Tell me how to fix this."

Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Evelyn replied, "I don't know if you can Blaise. How can I trust you?"

"Evie, I'm still the same man you married seventeen years ago. I'm still head over heels in love with you, and I always will be. I stopped the kiss as soon as I realized what was happening. It was a mistake, and I need you to tell me what you need from me. How do I fix this?"

Ella closed her eyes, and took a deep breath as a tear slid silently down her cheek. She had known that her parents were having marriage trouble, having caught a few of their arguments towards the end of the previous summer, but she hadn't known what they were about.

Now she did. Her father had cheated on her mother. He had kissed another woman.

"I want to forgive you Blaise, I do. I just need some time," came her mother's hushed voice. "I do love you."

A few moments passed again before Blaise spoke. "I've been thinking maybe we should get away from England for a weekend, just the two of us. We can just spend some time alone and reconnect. What do you say?" asked Blaise.

Evelyn sighed. "I don't know… maybe…"

"Please Evie. We can go anywhere you want. What about Greece, you've always wanted to go there! We can spend Christmas there, together."

"What about the kids?"

"I'm sure they'd be ok with going to the Weasleys' or Potters' place for a week or so. Merlin knows they spend most of their time with those kids as it is."

"No, Blaise. I want to spend Christmas with the kids. We already don't see them for most of the year."

Blaise sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I just… I think we need this."

Silence hung over the kitchen again. Ella took a chance and peeked slightly into the kitchen. Her father was kneeling in front of her mother, grasping her hands. Suddenly, he looked up at her.

"What about New Years?" Blaise asked quietly.

"New Years?"

"Yes, it's perfect. We'll spend Christmas with the kids, but we'll go away for just that weekend. That way we don't leave them for too long."

"What about your company party? I thought you wanted to go to make a good impression? To start your campaign to become a partner?" questioned Evelyn.

"That doesn't matter. You're more important. _We're_ more important."

Evelyn gave a small smile. "I "

Suddenly Ella lost her footing and fell against the wall.

Blaise and Evelyn started and turned to the stairs. "Ella, honey is that you?" asked her mother.

Cursing silently, Ella straightened up and wiped her eyes. Stomping her feet a bit to make it seem like she was just coming down the stairs, she plastered a smile on her face before entering the kitchen.

"Morning mum, dad."

"Hello sweetheart. Up a bit late this morning are you?" teased Blaise.

Ella simply nodded and avoided eye contact with her father, still a bit speechless as to what to say to him.

"Ah well, I suppose it is the holidays," said her father. "Well I'd better be off to work. I'll be home later this evening for dinner. Maybe the four of us can all go out to eat?"

Ella just smiled as Evelyn nodded. "Sure, we'll talk about it when you get back."

Taking that to apply to their earlier conversation as well, Blaise gave his wife a quick peck, kissed the top of Ella's head, and left.

"Anything specific you want for breakfast darling?" asked Evelyn, getting up and moving into the kitchen. She seemed to had shed her serious manner as soon as Ella had entered the room. "I know I'm not the Hogwarts' house elves, but I can make a decent breakfast," she said beaming at her daughter.

"Thanks mum, but I'm not too hungry right now. I'll probably just grab a bite to eat with Rose later."

"If you're sure dear. So, off to Diagon Alley for the day?"

"Yeah, Rose and I need to finish off a little more gift shopping."

"Hmm, sounds lovely darling," Evelyn said, a bit distractedly. She toyed with the diamond ring on her left hand as she stared out the window.

Ella watched her mother as she looked out the window. Evelyn Zabini was a gorgeous woman. Of Italian heritage on her mother's side, she had fair complexion as well as long silky brown hair. The twins had always been told that their looks favored their mother more than their father. Most of their physical aspects had been inherited from Evelyn, save for their medium skin tone and piercing brown eyes, both from their father.

Watching her mom, Ella decided to take a chance and pry a bit. "So are you and dad going to his company's New Years party this year?" she asked, as nonchalantly as possible.

Snapping out of her trance, Evelyn looked at Ella. "Um, I'm not sure. Actually your father surprised me a bit this morning. He wants to take me to Greece for that weekend.

"Wow, Greece! What's the occasion?" Ella asked, trying to seem like she wasn't prying.

"Oh you know your father, always springing these surprises on me. I think he just wants to get out of England for a bit. We would ask you two to come, but I know you probably want to celebrate the New Year with your friends.

Ella just nodded, accepting her mother's lie.

"Would you kids mind being home alone? I could always ask Luna if you and your brother could stay with them for that weekend. I'm sure she'd be happy to have you."

Torn between wanting to find out more about her parents problems and wanting to have the house for the party, Ella made her decision.

"No mum, we'll be fine at home for the weekend. We are almost seventeen, you know. And Pokey will be around to cook food for us if we need," Ella said.

"I suppose… I just feel odd about leaving you two alone. Are you sure you don't want to go to the Scamanders' house? Or the Weasleys'?"

"Yes mum, we'll be _fine_! Don't worry so much," Ella said, smiling reassuringly at her mum. "Anyways, I've got to dash mum. I'm meeting Rose in twenty minutes."

"Alright, bye darling."

Kissing Evelyn's cheek, Ella grabbed her purse and ran towards the fireplace to floo. Grabbing a handful of floo powder, she stepped in the fireplace.

"Darling, please don't spend too much today!"

"What's that mum? Didn't hear you, did you say 'spend a lot?' Gotcha, bye!" Laughing, Ella threw down the floo powder and yelled "Flourish and Blotts!"

Shaking her head in amusement at her disappearing daughter, Evelyn rolled her eyes before letting out a sigh. She had quite a bit of thinking to do before her family got home that night.

* * *

**Flourish and Blotts, Diagon Alley, London, 11am**

Stumbling out of the fireplace at Flourish and Blotts, Ella was suddenly caught by a firm pair of arms. Looking up to thank her savior, she found herself staring into a familiar pair of brown eyes.

"James! What are you doing here?"

Laughing, James helped Ella to regain her balance before letting her go. "What, no thank you? Merlin, so ungrateful," he joked.

Cocking her eyebrow at him, she said, "Sorry, sorry. Thank you for not letting me fall flat on my face. Now, what are you doing here?"

James smiled. "Freddie and I are supposed to head over to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Liam needs new keeper gloves, but he's stuck in Ireland visiting his grandparents, so I told him I'd pick them up. I was just looking for a new book on Quidditch plays before I headed over to meet them."

"Gryffindor captain through and through then, aren't you?" grinned Ella, as they both turned to walk to the front of the bookshop.

Holding the door open for Ella, James said, "Anything for my players. We need to have all the best equipment for when we massacre the other teams. Speaking of my players, is there anything you need? I suppose it could be your Christmas present."

Ella smiled. "You don't have to get me a present, James."

"Why not, I do it every year," he said, leaning in slightly. "No point in breaking tradition."

Ella smiled sweetly. "Well I don't think there's anything I need, but thanks James. You're a good captain, to be thinking of your team all the time."

James' smile faltered a bit, but not enough for Ella to notice. "Yeah, the team," he mumbled softly.

"Actually, I'm glad I ran into you. I had a favor to as "

"Ella!"

Spinning around to see who had interrupted her, Ella found Andrew Turner walking down the street towards her and James, followed shortly by five other people. Flustered, Ella smoothed down her jumper and skirt before beaming at Andrew.

"Hello love, what are you doing here?" Andrew asked, reaching out to hug Ella.

"Last minute shopping with friends," replied Ella. "Couldn't find everything I needed in Hogsmeade. And I just bumped into James here, literally."

Andrew nodded and remarked, "Potter."

James looked at him coolly before acknowledging him. "Turner." Looking back at Ella, he said, "Ella I'd better go, I've got to get over to the Quidditch store. See you later?"

"Sure James," Ella smiled. Waving at him and then turning back to Andrew, she didn't notice the lingering look James gave at her as he left.

"Is your brother with you then?" Andrew asked suspiciously, with the rest of the team looking on as well. "He was supposed to meet the team this morning, but said he was busy."

"N-no," Ella replied, remember to cover for Aiden. "No, um he's running errands for our mother all day." Trying to distract Andrew from how shaky her voice seemed, she put her hand on his arm and said, "He lost a bet to me, so he had to do them."

Convinced, Andrew smiled at Ella's touch and moved a bit closer to her.

"Is Rose with you then?"

Ella looked behind Andrew to see Zach Corner.

"Huh?"

Zach walked closer to where she and Andrew were. "You said you were meeting friends. And Potter was here, so I thought Rose might be with you."

"N-no," stammered Ella again. Thinking to herself she really needed new friends who wouldn't make her 'cover' for them, she gave Zach the first excuse that popped into her head. "Rose was busy. I'm meeting Lorcan today."

"Oh, ok," said Zach, a bit dejectedly. "Yeah she told me that she was busy today, but I thought maybe she was just avoiding me."

"Why would she be avoiding you?" Ella asked, though she knew that he was correct.

"Oh, um I asked her to meet my parents over the holiday, and she seemed a bit surprised. I thought maybe she was still figuring out whether she wanted to or not."

Surprised at the reason, Ella regained her composure. "I'm sure she's just busy today, Zach," she said, while making a mental note to kill Rose for not telling her about this new development.

"Yea, busy…" said Zach distractedly, going back to his other teammates.

"Anyways, back to us, Ella when do I get to spend some more time with _you_?" Andrew interjected

Blushing, Ella replied, "Well, what did you have in mind?"

"How about dinner, tomorrow night. I'll pick you up at seven?"

Smiling, Ella nodded. "That would be lovely. I have to run Andrew, but I'll see you tomorrow night." Stretching up to kiss his cheek, Ella was surprised when Andrew turned his head and met her lips instead for a small kiss.

Leaving her lips and moving towards her eat, Andrew whispered, "See you tomorrow night." Winking at her, he left to rejoin his teammates.

Smiling, Ella turned around towards the chairs outside of Flourish and Blotts to wait for Rose. _Well, that's new_.

* * *

**Longbottom Flat, Diagon Alley, London, 12pm**

"Ems! He's doing something weird… HELP!"

Emily rushed out of the kitchen and into the living room to see Aiden staring anxiously at her baby brother. Glancing down at the baby, Em sighed in relief as she saw her brother biting on a teething ring.

"Well, aren't you going to do something? He's trying to eat his toys! That can't be normal!" exclaimed Aiden.

Rolling her eyes, Emily turned to face her boyfriend. "Aiden, he's supposed to be doing that. And that's not a toy, that's a teething ring. He's at the age where he's going to start getting his first teeth soon."

Relieved, Aiden recovered smoothly. "Oh. Right. I totally knew that. I just wanted to make sure _you _knew that. I was testing you."

Emily quirked an eyebrow up at him, causing Aiden to start nervously laughing. "Oh, _really_? So I suppose you won't mind if I just go join Rose and Ella's shopping trip, and you can take care of Daniel then?" she smirked.

Aiden's eyes widened, causing Emily to let out laugh. Satisfied that she was just teasing him, Aiden grabbed her into his embrace. "Mmm, but isn't this so much more fun together?" he murmured into her ear. Not letting her go, he kissed the spot right under her ear.

"Aiden, we can't oh, that feels nice…"

Aiden began to trail kisses down her jaw until her reached her lips. Throwing caution to the wind, she put her arms around him and kissed him back eagerly.

However, they were shortly interrupted by Daniel's cries.

"Bloody hell, your whole family is against me aren't they?" muttered Aiden, not willing to let go of Emily. "How much do you want to bet your father trained him to do that?"

Broken out of the spell, Emily laughed as she detached herself from Aiden. Bending towards the floor, she carefully picked up her brother, and went to sit down on the couch. "Just come and sit down. We'll have more time for that later."

Aiden collapsed on the seat next to Emily, and snuggled up to her. "Promise?" he asked, kissing her cheek.

"Promise."

After about twenty minutes, Daniel calmed down and began to look sleepy. "I think it's time for his nap. I'll just go put him in his room."

Aiden nodded, picking up the Quidditch magazine that must've belonged to Tommy, Emily's other brother. Palming through the magazine, he thought about how good Emily was with Daniel. Smiling to himself, he wondered if he would ever be good with children. There was no doubt in his mind that Emily was the one he would have a future family with, but he hoped he wouldn't be completely awful at handling children by then.

"Well, he's down for the count," said Emily, coming back in the room. "Which means, we have some time to ourselves." Smiling suggestively at Aiden, she walked over to the couch and sat on his lap.

"What about your mum?" Aiden murmured, his arms instinctively going around Emily's waist as he began to nip at her neck affectionately. "What if she comes up here?"

"Hmmm? Oh she'll be too busy," said Emily, distracted by Aiden's ministrations. "The week before Christmas is always overcrowded in the pub."

"And your dad?" he said, slipping his hands under her shirt to draw patterns on her back while still kissing her neck.

"Still at Hogwarts grading papers. He won't be back until dinner."

"And Tommy?" He trailed his kisses up her neck, towards her jaw and closer to her lips.

"At a friends house," she said, in a breathy voice. "Just shut up and kiss me you prat."

"Mmm, as you command," Aiden smirked, before flipping them over and pinning Emily down on the couch beneath him. Reaching up, she put her hands behind his neck and captured his lips in a heated kiss.

Moving her hands up, she tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling at his brown locks gently. Smiling into the kiss, Aiden traced her bottom lip with his tongue, begging for entrance. She obliged and he began exploring her mouth. Suddenly, with strength Aiden never knew she had, Emily flipped them so that she was on top of him. Straddling him, she began kissing down his neck, gently nipping here and there, as he sighed and relaxed to enjoy her soft touches.

"I love you," he sighed, as she pressed her lips against a tender spot right below his ear.

Emily smiled. "I know," she said, causing him laugh gently. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her softly.

"You're really good with kids, you know that?" Aiden murmured.

"Well I had experience with Tommy too, when he was younger," she said, returning her attention back to his neck.

"It just makes me think about how good you'll be without our kids."

Emily froze.

"… our kids?"

* * *

"I am _so _sorry!"

Ella turned around to see a rushed looking Rose pacing towards her.

"I was just about to leave my house when I was ambushed by my dad. I had to spend twenty minutes convincing him that not only was I not secretly meeting Zach, but that I'm actually trying to avoid him. Bloody hell, that man is too overprotective for his own good."

Ella laughed. "I can't say I'm surprised. He's been like that since you started dating."

The other girl groaned. "I'm so tired of it. Even my mother can't control him. But he seemed pretty happy when I convinced him that I was actually avoiding Zach, rather than sneaking off to meeting him."

"Speaking of which, he's asked you to meet his parents?"

Rose started. "How did you know?! Oh Merlin, he's here, isn't he?" She looked around warily, almost as if Zach was going to pop out of thin air suddenly.

"Don't worry, I covered for you. Well not so much as covered as lied about who I was meeting up with right now."

"Thanks, I owe you. Fancy some lunch? I can explain there."

Ella agreed, and the two walked towards the Leaky Cauldron. Stepping in the restaurant, they waved at Emily's mother before ordering and going to sit down.

"Alright, spill. How did you go from being mad at him to being asked to meet his parents?" commanded Ella.

Rose sighed and scooted her chair closer to the table. "He apologized on the train for our fight. I didn't want to press the issue any further, so I told him it was ok. Then we snogged for a bit, after which out of the blue he asks me to meet his parents."

Ella's eyes widened. "But it's only been two months."

"I know! I didn't know what to tell him. I mean it's too soon, right?"

"Definitely. Meeting the parents is like a five months or more thing. Everyone knows that."

"Except Zach, apparently."

Ella looked at Rose. "So what did you say?"

"Well Ferret was waiting outside, so I said we had to go find Al and told him I'd let him know later. Then when he wanted to meet up today, I told him I was busy. I don't know what to say to him El. I don't think I'm ready to meet his parents." Rose groaned and lay her head down on her hands. Ella patted her friend's head consolingly.

"We'll think of something Rose, don't worry. Let's just eat, go say hi to the lovebirds, and shop. You need a break from this boyfriend drama."

The girls quickly ordered and ate their food. Once they were finished, they headed upstairs towards the Longbottom's apartment.

* * *

"… our kids?"

Emily suddenly sat up quickly and climbed off Aiden. Confused, Aiden got up as well.

"Well yeah. I figure since I'm horrible with children, you'll have to take with them."

Emily looked a little stunned. "_T-t-them_? A-a-and exactly how many k-kids will we be having," her voice coming out high pitched and shaky.

Aiden's eyebrows furrowed. He knew that whenever Emily was panicking, her voice climbed about three octaves and she started stammering. "Why are you freaking out? This isn't going to be for another four or five years, tops."

"F-f-four or five years?! B-b-but we're only sixteen!" she stuttered.

Aiden stared at her in confusion. "Are you telling me you've never thought of our future?"

"Of course I have. I j-j-just…. I j-just don't have it all planned out like you seemed to have," she replied defensively.

"Well what was your plan?"

"I dunno," she said quietly. "I just figured whatever happens will happen, when the time is right."

"So you don "

The doorbell interrupted his question.

"Dammit," swore Aiden, as Emily went to go get the door.

Pulling herself together, Emily opened the door to find her two best friends on the other side, both holding their hands over their eyes.

"_Please_ tell me you're both decent. I would rather _not_ see my brother in his starkers."

Still shaken, Emily simply said, "We're decent. Come in."

The girls walked into the house, following Emily towards the living room. Entering the room they found a disgruntled looking Aiden, who didn't even look up at their arrival.

"What's got his knickers in a twist?" Ella asked Emily.

"Oh sod off," he muttered at his sister.

Ella looked affronted. "Merlin, we just came by to say hi. But I can see we're not welcome."

A flicker of regret flashed in Aiden's eyes, but he still didn't say anything.

"No no, of course you're welcome," Emily said. "It's just been a long day, with the baby and all."

"Of course," replied Rose. "We actually just came by to say a quick hi, but we'd better get going because I have to be home by five. And we have lots of shopping to do."

"Ok, well Rose I suppose I'll see you at the Burrow for Christmas dinner then?"

"Of course Em." Rose hugged her friend, and waved at Aiden who just nodded back.

"If I'd known you were going to be so rude, I wouldn't have covered for you with your team this morning, you know," Ella shot at Aiden. "I hope whatever wand you have stuck up your arse is out by the time you come home." He flipped her off in response, causing Emily to send a glare at him.

Emily walked the two girls to the door, and upon returning to the living room found Aiden standing again.

"Have you really not thought about our future together? About when we're going to get married? When we'll have kids?" he said immediately, before she could scold him for being so rude.

Emily sighed and walked towards him. "Aiden, the future is so unpredictable. Of course I think about ours, but I don't have everything set out like you seem to. I'd love for us to get married, but have you thought about jobs and the possibility that we could have to deal with distance? You want to join a Quidditch team. How are we supposed to get married if you're traveling all the time? Or have kids?"

Looking down at the ground, Aiden had no response.

"I'm just trying to be realistic, my love," murmured Emily, placing her hands on his face to guide his eyes towards her's.

Closing his eyes and placing his forehead against her's, he sighed. "I know. I just wish you wouldn't." They stood in silence for a bit before Aiden pulled away. " I have to go. My mum needed me to pick up a few things from the Apothecary, so I should do that. I'll see you later," he mumbled

Emily sighed in frustration. "Aiden."

"No, really Em. I have to go." Leaning down, he kissed her quickly cheek and went to grab his coat. "Are you still coming to mine for Christmas day lunch?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"Alright, I'll see you then." Aiden left hurriedly. Stepping out the door, he let out a sigh of frustration. He knew Emily had a point when she said the future was unpredictable, but he had hoped that she had put more thought into their's. Eventually they were going to have to deal with this, but for the moment he didn't want it interfering in their holiday plans. Taking a deep breath, he walked down the stairs, waved to Emily's mother, and set off for the Apothecary.

* * *

**Florean Fortescue's, Diagon Alley, 3pm**

"All I'm saying is that maybe if you had a date, you wouldn't be fawning over Darcy throughout the entire party."

"I _don't_ fawn over her!"

Albus was sitting in Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour with Scorpius and Lorcan, where for the last twenty minutes they'd been trying to convince him to ask the cute girl behind the counter to be his date to the New Year's party.

"Mate, yes you do. It's obvious to everyone except you and Darcy," retorted Lorcan. "Just go up to the counter and ask this bird out."

"I don't even know her though," Al argued.

"That's the point of asking her out," groaned Lorcan. "To get to know her."

"I dunno, she doesn't really seem my type."

"What, gorgeous? Or not Darcy?" added Scorpius.

Al glared at him.

"Well if you won't do it, then I'm going over there to see if I can get you a date," Lorcan said, getting up. Al began to protest. "No, Al. I'm doing this for your own good."

Lorcan walked over to the counter as Al slumped down in his seat.

"Mate, he's just trying to help," began Scorpius. "We all are. We don't like seeing you so unhappy."

"I'm not unhappy," Al protested. "I just need some more time."

"More time than three years?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Look I get it. Really, I do. You've liked Darcy since fourth year. And the one time she was single between then and now, you were dating someone. I know you feel like you missed your opportunity, but you can't sit around waiting for her to be single again."

Al sighed in resign. The last time Darcy had been single was in their fifth year. She had been dating an older Gryffindor and Al had eventually given into his friends advice and asked another girl out. After a few dates with Jill Finch-Fletchley, Al found that while she wasn't Darcy, she was a nice enough girl. Three months later, they were in a steady relationship.

And then Darcy broke up with her boyfriend. Torn between seeing whether his relationship with Jill would last and finally pursuing the girl of his dreams, Albus chose to remain with Jill, losing the one window to Darcy that had opened up. Eventually Jill had broken up with Al, believing he wasn't fully committed to their relationship, but by then Darcy was already dating Callum Davies.

Al relented. "You're right."

"And before you argue with wait… what?"

"You're right," repeated Al, a bit dejectedly. "I've been holding onto hope that she'd break up with Davies. That's why I haven't dated anyone recently. I don't want to be in the same situation as last time. But if they're serious enough that he wants her to meet his family, maybe there is no hope."

Stunned that Al had given in that quickly, the two friends sat in silence for a few moments before Lorcan came back.

"Well mate, she definitely thinks you're cute." Lorcan sat back at the table. "Now just go talk to her, and ask her out," he prodded.

Al took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine. Wish me luck."

As Albus walked over to the counter, Lorcan turned to Scorpius. "Well my job is done for the day."

"What about your date for the party?"

"Already asked Jenny Martin when we were at school. Obviously Aiden and Emily are going together, Rose has Corner, and unless I can convince her otherwise, that prat Turner will probably be Ella's date." Lorcan propped his feet up on Al's empty chair. "Oh, and you've got your little girlfriend," he said, scrunching up his face a bit at the thought of Ava.

Scorpius look down at his hands. "Actually…"

Dropping his feet from the table, Lorcan furrowed his eyebrows and leaned in. "What do you mean 'actually'?"

"I sort of broke up with Ava," mumbled Scorpius, trailing off towards the end.

Lorcan's eyes widened. "What?! When did this happen?"

"Yesterday."

"And you didn't see fit to tell me?! We've been here for " Lorcan checked his watch, "almost two bloody hours, and you didn't tell me that you'd broken up with that she-devil!"

"Ah, so he's told you," Al said, returning to his seat. "I can't same I'm too broken up over it, the girl was bloody annoying."

Scorpius shot a reprimanding looks at both Al and Lorcan.

"What? You know I'm not her biggest fan," Al held up his hands in defense, Lorcan nodding in assent. "Mate, you can do way better than Ava Goldstein. You're probably the, what? The second best looking guy in our year?"

Scorpius smirked. "Second best? Try again."

Al shook his head while grinning.

"He's right," Lorcan said, having calmed down. "Second best… after me." Lorcan laughed while dodging a punch from Al. "So how'd she take it?"

"Not well," Scorpius sighed. "She screamed at me for about twenty minutes before starting to cry. Then when I tried to comfort her, she took her wand out and started screaming at me again. She didn't curse me, but bloody hell she sure looked close to it. I don't think she wanted to risk getting a notice from the Ministry. I never thought I'd say it, but thank Merlin for underage magic restrictions."

Lorcan laughed. "That sounds about right, she always did seem a bit on the crazy side. I wonder if that applies in the bedroom too…"

Scorpius glared at him in warning.

"Not that I'd ever go there, mate. I wouldn't do that to you," Lorcan added hastily. Quickly trying to change the subject he turned to Al. "So, did you manage to ask the bird out then?"

"Yeah, she agreed to be my date for the party," Al said, giving a small smile.

"Not to ruin the mood," Scorpius said, "but you know Darcy will be there, right? Davies is Aiden's teammate, so he'll be invited."

Al shrugged. "It's a big house. What are the chances I run into them?"

Scorpius and Lorcan stared at him doubtfully.

"Correction, what's the chance I run into them if I'm avoiding them?" Al amended.

The other two laughed. "Fair enough," said Lorcan. "So Scorp, does being newly single mean you're up for getting a date too?"

"Nah, mate. Ava will probably still be at the party, and I don't want to piss her off any more. She might say 'fuck it' and hex me, ministry reprimand aside. I'll sit this one out."

Lorcan groaned. "Suit yourself. But there won't be many options for that midnight snog for you."

"I think I'll survive," Scorpius said dryly.

Al smiled. "Don't worry Scorp, you'll find your perfect girl soon enou hey! Isn't that Rose?"

* * *

**Diagon Alley, 3pm**

A few hours later, Rose and Ella were wandering down the street, arms filled with bags.

"So what was wrong with your brother?"

Ella exhaled heavily. "Fuck if I know. His note this morning seemed cheery enough." The two girls walked down Diagon Alley, perusing the windows of the shops occasionally. "Maybe the golden couple is _actually _having problems."

Rose turned her head towards Ella. "No need to sound so worried," she said sarcastically.

"Well I'm not. They can have problems, but it doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day everything will be fine with them. Believe me, I've seen it happen before."

"I suppose…" Rose trailed off.

"Just trust me, everything is fine. There's nothing we need to worry about. Moving on, guess who has a date."

"What?! When did this happen?"

"This morning, before you got here," Ella smiled, thinking of the memory fondly. "James and I ran into the Ravenclaw team an "

"James?" Rose interrupted.

"Oh yeah I ran into James this morning. Literally."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he's here with Freddie and Louis. In fact I need to talk to all of them about the alcohol supply for the party. Usually I'd just have Scorp to ask Melanie, but she's in Spain, so that's out."

"James or one of the others will probably be able to get it. But enough of that, back to your date. Details, now," commanded Rose.

Ella gushed. "Oh, right. So we ran into the Ravenclaw team this morning, and after covering for you and Aiden, Andrew asked me out. We're going out to dinner tomorrow."

"Well then tomorrow night I expect an owl with all the details."

"Of course, have I ever let you down in the past?" Ella grinned.

The two girls continued to walk, venturing thoughts as to where Andrew would take Ella the next evening. As they were passing Quality Quidditch supplies, Ella said, "Would you mind if I ran in here quickly? Aiden's been eyeing some new beater gloves, and I want to get them for him."

"No problem El, I'll just wait out here."

"Thanks. I don't know why I'm so good to him when he's such a bloody git to me."

Rose laughed as Ella left to enter the shop. Sitting down on a bench Rose let her mind go blank and relaxed a bit.

"Rose!"

Hoping that Zach hadn't found her, Rose whipped her head around to instead see three boys walking over towards her.

"You guys are here too?"

"What a lovely greeting, Weasels," Scorpius answered sarcastically.

Rose rolled her eyes and ignored him. Instead she addressed Albus. "You didn't tell me you were coming here today," she said, almost accusingly.

"I didn't realize you were his mother," Scorpius interjected again before Al could reply, earning a rude hand gesture from Rose.

Elbowing Scorpius, Al said, "If I'd known you were coming, I would have told you. Although it was supposed to be a boys days out of sorts. Speaking of boys, have you seen Aiden? The Ravenclaw team was on the lookout for him earlier, so he should be warned."

"He already knows, we told him."

"We?" asked Lorcan

"Yes, we," replied Ella, walking up beside Rose.

"Oh fantastic, the whole gang is here," grinned Lorcan. "Well almost. Do you lovely ladies fancy a butterbeer? Scorp's treat of course."

"Hey!"

Ignoring Scorpius' indignant cry, Lorcan grinned at the two girls and gestured for them to go first. The group walked over towards the Leaky Cauldron, with Scorpius sulking close behind.

They found a table, as Lorcan went to order the drinks and see if Emily was upstairs.

"So what've you lot been up to today?" asked Ella.

"Not much. We got Al to ask out the girl working at Fortescues'," answered Scorpius.

Rose looked towards her cousin immediately just as he groaned. "You asked someone out?" she asked incredulously.

"Don't make a big deal out of it," cautioned Al. "I'm just bringing her as my date for the party."

"Oh good, we'll all have dates then," stated Ella, apparently happy with the fact.

"Not all of us…" Scorpius began, causing Ella to snap her head towards him in question. "I sorta broke up with Ava," he mumbled.

"What?!" Ella exclaimed. "Scorp, why?!"

"So you did do it then?" Rose asked.

"Just wasn't working out," he directed towards Ella. "Wait, why does it matter to you? You're not friends with her."

"But she's already been invited to the party! I can't uninvited her." Ella began to look flustered. Then realizing Rose had said something, she said, "Wait. Rose, how did you knew he was going to break up with her?" Both Ella and Al looked at Rose questioningly.

Rose hesitated. She still hadn't told anyone about her and Scorpius' talk the night of the party.

"I told her on the train, while we were looking for Al," Scorpius responded saving Rose from having to come up with an excuse. Rose nodded in assent. "And who says you have to uninvited her?" Scorpius continued. "She can still come."

"Ah, so he's told you?" Lorcan returned to the table. "Thank Merlin he's rid of her, that bloody girl was quite annoying. Oh and Emily's gone out with her mum," Lorcan finished, avoiding Scorpius' glare.

"So did no one like Ava then…?" Scorpius asked, looking around. Lorcan and Albus grimaced while Rose avoided his eyes all together.

Ignoring him, Ella continued with their earlier conversation. "Scorp, you know Ava. She'll make a scene at the party, and I don't want to deal with that."

"Don't worry about anything Ella, I'll handle her if she stirs up trouble."

Ella raised her eyebrows doubtfully, knowing that Scorpius generally avoided confrontation.

"Ok well maybe _I_ won't handle her," he conceded, "but your house is big. So I'll just avoid her all night to make sure nothing happens. Happy?"

"Not really," sighed Ella, although she looked resigned. "But now I have to figure our the alcohol situation."

"Did someone say alcohol?"

The group turned to find James, Louis, and Fred descending upon them, the latter having asked the question.

"Oh good, you're here " began Ella.

"_Not _the first time a girl has said that to me," replied Fred, winking at Ella, causing her to roll her eyes while he received a slap to the head from James.

"You're an idiot," muttered James, as Fred rubbed his head and everyone else laughed.

"Oi, Al. You have to hear the new product we just came up with," said Louis. "In fact, you'll all appreciate this."

While everyone listened as Louis and Fred began to tell them about the latest products they were testing for the Weasley's joke shop, Ella walked over to James.

"Right, so I have a huge favor to ask you," she said, her face changing into it's signature puppy dog look. "Would you be able to get the alcohol for the party?"

"Ella, you don't have to use those eyes on me," laughed James, giving her a wry smile. "What do you need?"

Searching in her purse, she found the list that she and Aiden had compiled and a bag of galleons, handing them both over to James. "Thank, I owe you."

"Oooh, a favor from Ella Zabini," teased James. "What ever shall I ask for." He turned his head up in mock thought before receiving a punch to the shoulder from her. Laughing, they returned to the table just as Fred and Louis were finishing their story.

" and every time somebody says the trigger word, their hair will turn pink and they do a ballerina twirl and start singing the sorting hat song from that year," Louis finished, causing everyone to break out laughing.

"That is _brilliant_!" Lorcan cried, wiping tears from his eyes. "You are definitely going to have to let me test that out when we get back to school."

"The best part is that the only way to end it is to figure out what the trigger word is, and then say the opposite," Fred told them, causing everyone to laugh again.

"Even I have to admit that's brilliant," admitted Rose," and you know I'm not much for pranks. Although… maybe I should use that on Montague when we get back. She could use pink hair."

"Yes Rosie, come to the dark side," grinned Fred.

"You get the alcohol situation figured out?" Rose asked, turning towards Ella.

"I'm taking care of it," James said.

"Thank Merlin. Now that's one less thing to worry about before your date Ella."

"Date?" said all the guys, turning to look at Ella, who groaned at the attention.

"Thanks, Rose," she said sarcastically.

"What date?" demanded Lorcan.

"Don't you start with me," warned Ella, staring him down. He relaxed a bit, and she went on. "I have a date with Andrew tomorrow. But don't say anything Lorcan," she finished, interrupting what ever response he had. "I know you don't like him, but I do. So you need to get over it."

Lorcan crossed his arms and slumped into his seat, muttering under his breath.

Ella looked at everyone else, challenging them to add anything, but no one did.

"Good, now onto the other plans, who's staying over at the house after the party? I need to figure out how many rooms to get ready."

All of them raised their hands.

"What about the rest of your family?"

"Molly, Lucy, and Dom will be there, so they'll probably stay over," noted Rose.

"What are you all telling your parents?"

The Weasleys and Potters all shared conspiratorial looks as James answered. "Molly's covering for the girls. She's saying that they're all staying at her flat and having a girl's night out. And the boys are all 'staying' with Teddy for a guy's night out."

"Brilliant. Hopefully that'll lessen the chance of getting caught," Ella marveled.

"What about your parents?" asked Scorpius.

"Turns out they might be going to Greece for that weekend," she replied, not showing any emotion about the topic of her parents. "Some surprise trip my dad sprung on my mom."

"Pretty lucky break," remarked Fred.

"Yeah, lucky…" mumbled Ella. Pushing thoughts of her parents away, she addressed the group again. "Ok, so who's dates are also staying over? And who wants to stay in the same room as their dates?"

"Liz will be staying with me," Fred said, referring to his longtime girlfriend. "I think Lucy's boyfriend is coming, but I'm not sure if he's staying."

"He won't be if we have anything to do with it," said Louis, the other boys nodding in agreement.

"Zach's not staying," supplied Rose, earning approving looks from her male family members. Scorpius also looked a little pleased about it.

"Albus what about your date?" Ella asked.

"You have a date?" cut in a surprised James. "Am I missing something? When did Darcy break up with Davies?"

"She didn't," Albus muttered.

"Do my ears deceive me?" teased Fred. "Is Albus actually dating someone who isn't Darcy?"

"I'm not _dating _anyone," Al told him. "I just have a date for the party. And no, Ella, she's not staying over."

"Ok. James?" Ella asked.

"No date."

"Got it. So the people staying over are: Rose, Al, Scorp, Lorcan, James, Fred, Liz, Louis, Molly, Lucy, and Dom. Em still has to figure out if she can or not, but if she stays she can stay in Aiden's room," muttered Ella, mostly to herself. "If Liz stays with Fred, everyone else can have their own room, or bunk with whoever they want."

Louis stared at her in awe. "How many room does your place have?"

"Twelve bedrooms, not including my parents, mine, and Aiden's," she said.

Louis raised his eyebrows, but he didn't ask any more questions.

"I think everything is set then. The invitations have been sent, the decorations will be done the day before, James is getting the drinks, and I know who all is staying over," she sighed, sitting back down next to Rose and laying her head on the other girl's shoulder. "Thank Merlin. This party better be worth it for all the stress I'm going through."

Rose patted her friend's head in comfort. "It's almost over, El. And the party _will _be worth it. And now you can look forward to your date."

Ella closed her eyes and smiled, missing the grimace on James' face at the mention of her date.

"We'd better get going. We promised Uncle George that we'd show him some of the new products we've come up with," said Louis, looking at his watch. "James you coming?"

"Nah, I'll just go home with Al and Scorp. Dinner's soon anyways."

"Ok, see you lot later." Fred and Louis got up and left.

"I need to get going too," said Rose. "My parents want to do family night tonight," she said in mock excitement, causing the others to laugh. "I have to make sure Hugo doesn't skip out on it and leave me alone."

The others all decided to leave as well. Getting up from the table, Scorpius went over to the bar reluctantly to pay the tab, while the rest of them tidied up the table.

"You lot are bloody expensive," Scorpius snapped, returning. "I probably just financed the Longbottoms' next vacation.

They all grinned at him, as they walked towards the fireplace to floo to their separate homes. Saying their goodbyes, they each left for their destinations.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Again, another semi-filler chapter but with a little plot movement on a few fronts. ****I've already started outlining the next 4 chapters, so the next update should come a lot sooner.**

**And you know, *cough cough* reviews would definitely help that *cough* ;)**

**Next up: Christmas and New Years**

**-Tara**


	4. Christmas At The Burrow

**AN: Hey look, another chapter! I know I said it would come sooner, but to be honest it took me quite a while to perfect this one. Additionally, I ended up cutting the New Years Party out of this chapter, and making it it's own chapter because it was getting too long and I wanted to give you guys an update as soon as possible. **

**But I really hope you enjoy this chapter! It was probably my favorite to write so far. Also thank you to all the reviewers. I loved your comments. **

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine, but belongs to JK Rowling.**

* * *

**Saturday, December 24, 2022**

**The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, 4pm**

Scorpius was hiding. He had been sitting on the roof outside of his shared room in the Burrow thinking about the past week and, in all honesty, hiding. He sighed. _How the bloody hell did it come to this?_

The past week had been interesting, to say in the least. The previous Sunday he had finally decided break things off with Ava. Not only had her constant neediness steadily grown tiresome, but she'd owled him fifteen times in between his arrival at the Potter's house Friday evening and Saturday afternoon complaining about not seeing him at the station, further cementing his decision. So on Sunday he'd floo'd over to her house and broken up with her. And like he'd told Lorcan the next day, it had not gone well.

But he was happy that it was done. Because if he was honest with himself, there was another reason that he had been thinking of breaking up with Ava, beside her annoying nature. And that reason was currently downstairs baking pies with her grandmother.

Over the past couple months he'd been unable to stop thinking about _her_, his best friend's cousin. And for the life of him, he couldn't figure out when it had started. Well actually if he was being honest with himself, he knew around when it had started; third year. Third year was when he'd first started noticing girls as more than just friends. Additionally, other guys had really started noticing Rose around then too. She had always been cute and pretty, but at the beginning of third year, she'd come back to Hogwarts having developed into more of a woman and looking beautiful. It was also the year that they began to spend more time together and gotten to know each other better, mostly while studying for exams. Over the next few years they'd both had their fair share of relationships. While it hadn't phased him too much, he did always feel an unexplainable twinge of annoyance at anyone she dated. Recently, however, that twinge of annoyance had grown into a tight knot in his stomach whenever he saw her with another guy, especially Corner. His initial reasons for dating Ava had been to try and push away those feelings, but the plan had failed.

The pinnacle of it all occurred during the night of the end of term party, after Ava had left to comfort her friend. He'd returned to the party to find all of his friends missing. After a quick chat with Lily, she'd told him they'd all left and that Rose had had a fight with Corner. Not knowing why, he found himself going up to the Astronomy tower where he knew she went when she was angry. There was just something about her that drew him in. There always had been. It was what made him tease her all the time, pick small fights with her, and constantly compete with her. On some level he knew that his attempts at competing with her in classes were a way of trying to prove to himself and Rose that he was worthy of her, that he could keep up.

Their talk in the Astronomy tower had only drawn him in even more. He had enjoyed their conversation and simply spending time with her. She was one of very few girls who could keep up with him, match him wit for wit. And then he'd almost kissed her. He had gotten so close. After Peeves' interruption, he'd nearly gone to find the poltergeist and hex him into oblivion, but had restrained himself. Because admittedly he didn't want his first kiss with Rose, if he ever had one, to be when they were both seeing other people. That would never become a fond memory for either of them.

And yes, she was dating Corner. But according to Al, who she frequently confided in, they didn't seem all that serious. They rarely spent time together at Hogwarts, mainly because Corner was always off with his friends or at Quidditch while Rose was usually found in the library studying. She spent more time studying with Scorpius and the rest of their friends than she did with Corner. _That prat isn't good enough for her _thought Scorpius. _Hell, I'm not even good enough for her, but at least I'm willing to admit it_.

And now they were all at the Burrow, where he was around her all the time. He'd always been attracted to her looks as well as intellect, but now it was becoming apparent to him just how physically attracted to her he was.

The entire Weasley-Potter family had arrived at the Burrow on Thursday to begin the holiday festivities. On Thursday night, he, Al, and Rose had been asked to decorate the garden outside with Christmas lights. Ten minutes into their task, Fred and Louis had decided to test one of their products on Al, resulting in him sprouting feathers and a beak for a solid two hours. Scorpius and Rose had been left alone as Uncle George tried to sort Al out. They'd made some small talk nothing in particular and everything had been fine. Until she had reached up to adjust the lights on the tree. As she was reaching, her jumper had rode up exposing the bare skin of her stomach. Suddenly Scorpius had had to suppress the urge to wrap his arms around her and just run his hands over her skin to see if it was as soft as it looked. Physically restraining himself, he'd finished their work quickly and rushed inside and up to his room leaving her looking quite confused.

Then on Friday morning, they'd been the first two awake other than her grandmother. Rose had been helping to prepare breakfast, and as soon as Scorpius walked into the kitchen he'd been tasked with helping as well. Nana Weasley had left the two of them in the kitchen to go pick fresh vegetables from her garden. Rose had been making small talk about NEWTs and studying, but Scorpius hadn't been able to concentrate on a single thing she'd been saying. Instead he'd had to force himself not to stare at her, because all Rose had on was a simple black tank top that hugged her every curve and showed off a bit of her midriff. Her short emerald green pajama boxers his favorite color were slung low on her hips, accentuating her curves and making her legs look extremely long. Finally, after about twenty minutes of pure torture, Lily had joined them in the kitchen. Making some excuse, he'd given his task to Lily and run back upstairs to his room once again, intent on taking a cold shower.

It wasn't that he'd never noticed her physically before. Scorpius had always known that she was beautiful. But until the recent weeks he had never admitted to himself how attracted _he _was to her. How gorgeous her auburn tresses looked as they fell down her back in soft waves. How bright her sapphire blue eyes sparkled when the light hit them. How the skin around her eyes crinkled in delight when she smiled or laughed. How she blushed so easily, coloring her cheeks so prettily.

He shook his head. _You need to stop _he mentally scolded himself. _It's not going to be an easy night for you if you dwell on these thoughts ._

"Scorp?" Scorpius turned to see Al climbing out of the window and onto the roof, sitting beside him. "What are you doing out here?"

Scorpius took a deep breath. He couldn't tell Al about his feelings just yet. Not until he knew more about them. "Just… thinking. House can get a bit crowded."

"You're telling me," Al replied. "I love my family, but there's just so many of them."

"Yeah, but I'd rather have too much family than too little family."

"Well, you don't have cousins that turn you into bloody poultry, now do you?" Scorpius snorted while attempting to stifle a laugh. "It's not funny, I'm still finding feathers all over the place!"

"Well after the yelling your Nana gave Fred and Louis, I reckon they're done testing products on you."

Al smiled in smug satisfaction. "C'mon, let's get inside. Nana said she needs our help setting up some stuff for dinner before the others get here."

"Give me a minute, I'll be right in." Al clapped him on the back before climbing back into the room and leaving Scorpius by himself again. Taking a deep breath Scorpius made a decision. He needed start acting more normal around Rose, maybe stop teasing her all the time, build an actual friendship. There was nothing he could do while she had a boyfriend anyways, so he may as well improve their friendship in the hopes that she would start to see a new side of him. He got up and climbed into the bedroom.

_Here we go._

* * *

**The Burrow, 7pm**

A few hours later and the Burrow was bustling with no fewer than twenty people.

"Rosie, be a dear and go help Albus and Scorpius set up the tent and tables outside? Everyone should be arriving soon."

"Sure Nana," Rose answered. Grabbing her coat, she went outside to find Al and Scorpius levitating chairs in the air and smacking them into each other for sport.

"I know we can use magic since they can't detect who's doing it at here, but really? Dueling with chairs?"

Al and Scorpius laughed. "C'mon Weasels, don't be a bore," Scorpius called, his tone playful.

Rose rolled her eyes, but adopted a mischievous look on her face. Taking advantage of the boys' distraction at their resumed fight, she took out her wand. Pointing it at one of the tables, she muttered a quick levitation spell. Moving her wand towards the chairs in the air, she flicked her wrist. The table soared towards the chairs, smacking them straight out of the air and towards the two boys. Ducking and covering their heads just in time, the chairs flew over their heads crashing into the bushes behind them. Al and Scorpius rose to stare at Rose, who was smirking at them. "You were saying, Ferret?"

"Bloody hell woman, those nearly hit us!" exclaimed Al, though he looked slightly amused.

Next to him Scorpius looked at Rose, half in shock half in awe. "Didn't know you had it in you Weasels," he said, tipping his head towards her. "Touché."

"Thank you thank you," she bowed in dramatic exaggeration. "Now come on. It's freezing out here, and I want to slip the firewhiskey into our drinks before the adults all come downstairs." Rose had taken over the duty of spiking their drinks for the evening. Unlike some of her other cousins, namely Fred and Louis, who were carefully monitored by both their mothers, no one suspected Rose of any wrongdoing due to her usual rule abiding nature. However even she couldn't endure an evening of the entire Weasley-Potter clan, with the addition of the Scamanders and Longbottoms, completely sober. "If I have to put up with Uncle Percy reading me his entire pamphlet on broomstick regulations, or Rolf telling me about the latest sighting of a 'Blubbering Humdinger' while sober, I'm going to strangle Ferret."

"Hey!" Scorpius threw up his hands.

"Broomstick pamphlets and '_Blibbering _Humdingers' aside," interrupted a voice from behind her, "you'd better make Al's drink extra strong." She turned to see James coming outside.

"Why?" Al asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing at James. "What happened? Oh Merlin, did you do something and blame it on me?" he accused. "_What did you do James?!_"

James held up his hands in defense. "Relax little brother, you're not in trouble. But you're still gonna need a lot to drink tonight. Mum's just told me that Sarah's coming with the Scamanders."

Al threw back his head and groaned as the others began laughing. Sarah Scamander was Lorcan and Lysander's fifteen year old cousin. She was home schooled by her parents, but tended to spend a lot of the holidays with her cousins, being quite close with Lysander. Over the years of visiting the Weasleys and Potters, she'd developed quite a crush on Al, one she made no secret of.

"Damn. He's right Rosie, give me a tad extra would you?"

"You sure Al? Wouldn't want you doing anything stupid tonight..."

"Just do it." Grumbling, Al storming off inside, no doubt to complain about Sarah to anyone that would listen.

"Poor guy," Scorpius mused. "Chased after by all the girls except the one he actually wants."

"Eh, Darcy'll come around soon enough. Davies is a prick, she's bound to figure that out sooner or later. " James said confidently. "C'mon, let's get these tables set up before Nana sends my mother after us with a Bat Bogey Hex."

The three of them set the tables and chairs up together, erected a white tent around it, then cast a warming charm inside. Satisfied with their work, they went back inside.

* * *

"_Neither _of you two are to leave me alone with Sarah at _any_ time tonight, got it?" ordered Albus, pointing back and forth between his two best friends. Turning to each other, both Rose and Scorpius rolled their eyes. They were upstairs in the boys' room where Al had dragged them to talk alone.

"Mate, I think you're overreacting."

Albus turned on him glaring. "Overreacting?! Well why don't you bloody well try and "

"Albus?" interrupted a voice from outside the room. Albus' face paled. "Are you in there?" said the small voice again.

"Bloody hell," groaned Albus. "Distract her, I'm going out the window," he ordered them both. Just as he put a leg out the window, fully intent on escaping that way, both Scorpius and Rose grabbed an arm each and pulled him back in.

"Nuh uh," said Rose. "That's a three story drop, don't even try it. It'll be fine, just be polite and avoid her most of the night." Albus groaned again, but nodded in resignation. Stepping outside the room, they were met by a small brown haired girl who immediately beamed upon seeing Albus.

"Albus, hi! I've been looking for you!" Sarah blushed, smiling shyly at him.

"Er hi Sarah. Nice to see you. Say Scorp, weren't you supposed to tell me about that thing with the, uh, other thing? You know downstairs… or outside.. or something?" he pleaded. Sarah looked at the two boys in confusion, while Rose attempted to stifle a snort at her cousin's ridiculous behavior, but failed.

"Nope, no idea what you're talking about Al," grinned Scorpius. Then suddenly his face adapted a look of pure evil. "In fact, Rose and I had to tell Lorcan something. Is he downstairs Sarah?" Sarah nodded, and Scorpius gestured for Rose to head towards the stairs. She stifled a snicker, and both of them left, avoiding Al's withering glare.

They shuffled down the stairs quickly, barely able to contain their laughter. At the bottom, they collapsed in amusement. "Oh that was too good. But you know he's gonna kill us when he finds us," wheezed Rose, out of breath.

"Too right. Which is why we can't let him get us alone tonight." They walked over to where James and Dominique were standing with Lorcan and Emily by the fire.

"Hi Em," greeted Rose, hugging her friend from behind as Scorpius clapped Lorcan on the back.

"Hi Rosie. I got your drink." She handed Rose a cup. "Oh, and thanks for the extra kick," she winked lifting up her cup, the others doing the same and nodding in agreement.

Rose bowed her head and knocked her glass against Emily's. "All in a good day's work. So how was lunch yesterday?"

"It was nice," Emily replied. "Mr. and Mrs. Zabini are definitely going to Greece next weekend, so the party plans are all set."

"Perfect, now we just have to get our alibis with the parents down." Emily nodded and they joined in with the others' discussion of the latest Puddlemere Quidditch game.

"Uh oh, heads up," Scorpius whispered a few minutes later, nudging Rose to look behind. Turning around, Rose saw a seething Al heading down the stairs and over to them. Reacting instinctively, she grabbed Scorpius' hand and dragged him into the kitchen.

"We'll be safe here. I reckon Al wouldn't dare do anything in front of Nana," she said, and Scorpius unconsciously squeezed her hand in agreement. Looking down, Rose blushed and quickly broke their grasp to Scorpius' dismay (though he didn't show it outwardly). "We'd better see if Nana needs help, or she'll kick us out of here."

The two of them went over to Rose's grandmother and were asked to get the dishes ready and start taking them outside.

"You two are in such big trouble," came a voice from behind them. Rose and Scorpius turned to see Molly, the younger, entering the kitchen, trailed by Teddy and Victoire.

Scorpius quirked an eyebrow. "How mad is he?"

"He was fuming," replied Teddy. "I think he's planning his revenge for tonight. Something about you two needing to 'sleep with one eye open.'" The others chuckled.

"He's all talk. There's no way he could survive without either of us," Rose said confidently.

The others laughed. "Anyways, we came in to see if you need any help?" asked Victoire. Rose and Scorpius nodded, and told the three of them what they'd been instructed to do by Nana Weasley.

When done, they went to round up everyone. Once outside, Rose sat down in between Emily and Molly, across from Scorpius, while the rest of her cousins began to fill the other seats nearby. "You two are so dead," Al snapped at Rose and Scorpius, as he and Lorcan took seats next to Scorpius.

Before Rose could reply, her grandfather began talking. "I'd just like to say thank you to everyone for coming. We're glad that you could all make it. And of course thank you to my lovely wife Molly and to everyone who helped her cook dinner tonight. Now, tuck in!" said Arthur. Everyone immediately began eating and chatting.

"Oh come on Al, it was all in good fun," replied Rose, sending him a teasing look. Emily and Lorcan laughed quietly.

Al's glare let up a bit as he quickly glanced down towards where Sarah was sitting with Lily and Roxanne. He sighed. "She's a nice kid and all, I just don't know how to let her down easy."

"Mate, don't worry about it. She'll get over it eventually," said Lorcan while helping himself to food.

"Plus today's the only day you'll have to see her anyways. She's too young to come to the New Year's party, and afterwards we're all going back to school," added Emily.

Al perked up at that. "True. Alright, you guys are off the hook. _But_,do anything like that again, and I'm never speaking to either of you again," he pointed back and forth between his two best friends in warning.

"That threat might actually be frightening if you were capable of functioning without us," Scorpius said, grabbing a piece of turkey from the platter.

"Ferret don't antagonize him, we just got back on his good side," chided Rose. Scorpius smirked in response.

"Rosie, did I hear Emily mention New Years?" Rose froze and turned to her mother, who was sitting two spots down from her.

"Um yeah mum "

"She's staying with me, Aunt Hermione," interjected Molly confidently. "All the girls are, we're having a girl's night out. You know, doing our nails, talking about boys, the usual. The boys are doing the same with Teddy."

Rose smiled gratefully as Molly got Hannah's permission for Emily to join as well. Molly had spoken so confidently that it actually had a ring of truth to it. "That's nice," said Hermione. "Because we all have to go to the Ministry's party, and I reckon you'd be bored out of your mind there. Now I just have to see about Hugo…"

Hugo looked over at the mention of his name. "No you don't mum. I told you yesterday, Lils, Rox, and I are going over to Max's house."

"Oh that's right. Sorry Hugo, work's got me distracted, it must've slipped my mind," Hermione said. Hugo smiled and went back to talking to Lysander. "Well I guess that's all sorted," said Hermione, turning back to her conversation with Hannah.

Rose sighed in relief. Their alibis were secure. With Hermione convinced, the rest of their parents wouldn't question it. A bit curious as to why her mother had accepted the excuse so easily and without question, Rose pushed the thoughts out of her head and turned to Molly. "So, how's the job going?" The two of them and Emily began talking about Molly's job at the Ministry, and her extremely cute boss.

Scorpius looked over at Rose and smiled slightly. She seemed so happy whenever she was with her family. She always looked so at ease with everything. He sighed and kicked himself mentally. _Bloody hell man, get it together. _Turning to talk to Al, he didn't notice both Lorcan and Lily eyeing him carefully, then turning to whisper to each other.

"So Scorp, I heard you broke up with Ava?" said Roxanne from next to Lily. "Thank Merlin, she was awful."

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know," groaned Scorpius. "So I've heard only ten thousand bloody times."

"I'm surprised it took you this long. Mels thought you'd get rid of her much earlier." Scorpius' cousin had taken a keen liking to Roxanne when she'd gotten sorted into Slytherin. Not being easily fond of too many people, it was a surprise to most how Mels treated Roxanne like the sister she'd never had. Scorpius, however, wasn't surprised. He could see how alike both Melanie and Roxanne were, and why they got along so easily.

"Yeah well, she'll be happy when she gets back from Spain then," muttered Scorpius, helping himself to more food.

"I reckon she will be. She might even be able to be around you again without taking the mick out of you," continued Roxanne, making everyone else laugh.

"Alright, alright enough picking on Scorp," said Al, taking pity on his friend. The others went back to chatting, and Scorpius looked towards Al gratefully.

The rest of the dinner flew by, with everyone talking and eating heartily. Sometime around ten thirty however, Al disappeared, making a quick excuse as he saw Sarah heading over towards him. Scorpius let him go, intent on eating as much as he could, but about twenty minutes later Rose shot him a look telling him he'd better go see what was up with Al. Excusing himself, he left the tent and walked outside.

"Al? Al! Come on mate, I know you're out here somewhere." Scorpius walked further into the Weasley's garden calling for his best friend. "Merlin's pants Al, where the bloody fu "

Suddenly and arm came out from the tree behind him, grabbing his shirt and yanking him backwards. "Shhhh!" Turning, Scorpius found himself looking into a pair of familiar emerald eyes. "For fuck's sake, do you want _her _to find me?!"

"Oh c'mon Al, now you're just being a drama queen."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one she's obsessed with. Scorp, she asked me if I have a girlfriend earlier. _This is bloody serious_!" Al hissed. Scorpius barely managed to stifle a snort at that, earning a glare from the other boy. "I'm just gonna stay out here for a while. They have to leave soon, right?"

Scorpius checked his watch. "Yeah, it's almost eleven. I reckon everyone will probably be leaving soon."

"Well in that case…" Al trailed off, taking out his wand. Making sure everyone was still inside the tent, he summoned two of the spare chairs that were outside the tent. Grabbing one, he twirled it around and sat down. "Make yourself comfortable."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "Who says I'm staying here with you. I've got your grandmother's delicious cooking to get back to." _And Rose to stare at more_ he added mentally.

"Oh come on, Scorp!" Al pleaded. "You're not gonna leave me out here all by myself are you? You're _supposed _to be my best mate," he added, attempting to guilt the blonde.

Rolling his eyes, Scorpius sat down. "All right, all right. But you owe me. I'm missing your grandmother's dessert for this."

"We'll grab some leftovers later and take it up to the room," Al grinned. Scorpius settled into his chair and faced Al. "So, what's new with you? I feel like we haven't hung out in a while, just the two of us. Especially when you were dating that bloody gi "

"Yeah yeah, I know what you thought of her," interrupted Scorpius, tired of hearing people complain about Ava. "To be fair to her she wasn't always like that. When we first started dating, she was much sweeter, simpler. You know…"

"Yeah I remember. Who knows, maybe she just acted like that to get you to go out with her." Scorpius looked down and nodded. Al looked at him a bit before continuing. "But Scorp, I am sorry about the break up. I may not have liked her, but break ups are never easy. And you know I'm here if you need to talk," Al added, a bit awkwardly.

Scorpius chuckled. Punching Al in the shoulder lightly, he said, "Thanks mate. I appreciate it."

"So any new prospects yet? We've got to get you back out there."

_Yeah, but she's dating someone_. "Nah. Reckon I'll see how the single life is for a while."

"Seriously? Oh the birds are gonna love that when we get back to Hogwarts. How long do you think it'll take for Lauren to come after you?"

Scorpius scrunched up his face in disgust. Lauren Montague had persistently tried to date Scorpius for the past two years. The only time he was ever free from her was when he was in a relationship, and even then she still flirted lightly with him. "Fuck, I didn't think of that. How bad do you think it will be?"

" Well last I heard she fancied Corner. But of course now he's dating Rosie…" Al trailed off in thought.

Scorpius took a deep breath. He had already decided not to tell Al about his growing feelings for Rose just yet, but that didn't mean he couldn't subtly scope for information. "Yeah Corner… so how serious do you think he and Rose are?" Al looked at him strangely. "It's just… I dunno, it'd be kinda helpful for me if Corner were suddenly free for Lauren to go after," he added hastily.

"Oh, well I'm not sure. I mean they've only been dating for what, three months? I don't think they're too serious." Scorpius rejoiced inwardly. "But I suppose it could get serious soon. I mean he did ask her to meet his parents."

Scorpius' breath hitched. "He what?"

"Yeah, I was surprised too. I mean meeting the parents is way to early for where they're at. But from what Rose told me she said she couldn't. I don't think she felt ready." Scorpius started breathing normally again. "Oh hey, was it me, or did Lorcan look like he was paying more attention to Lily than usual?" asked Al.

"Um, nah mate, I don't think so…" said Scorpius distractedly, slowly recovering. Seeing an opportunity to get Al's thoughts on a similar situation though, he dove straight in. "But how would you feel, if say a friend of yours was to date your relative?"

"Wait, what? Why?" Al suddenly sat up straight looking confused. "Oh man I knew it, Lorcan fancies Lily doesn't he?!"

"No! It's not him "

"Not him? What then, you? Oh Merlin, you fancy Lily?!" Al yelped, his eyes wide.

"What? No, of course not! This is all purely hypothetical!" Scorpius exclaimed, raising his hands in defense. "Calm down Al."

"Sorry," said Al, running a hand through his already messy hair. "It's just, well Lily's only fifteen. And James and I have enough trouble keeping her away from boys her own age, let alone my friends who are older than her."

Scorpius laughed nervously, hoping that Al's protectiveness didn't apply to his female cousins as well.

"What brought this on?"

Scorpius froze. _Think Scorp, you have to come up with something! _"Oh, um nothing really. Just a random thought." Al didn't look convinced. Suddenly, the perfect excuse came to him. "Well I guess I always wondered how Ella felt about her best friend dating her brother. And seeing as I have no siblings of my own, you seemed like the next best person to ask."

"Oh." Al looked a bit more convinced, and much less suspicious. "Well I suppose it would depend on the person, you know? I mean Ella and Em have known each other for a long time, and it's not like Aiden and Em have some fleeting relationship. They'd fancied each other for ages before he finally worked up the courage to ask her out." Scorpius nodded in thought. "So I guess personally, it would depends on how serious said person is about my relative. I think Ella could tell that Aiden wasn't some passing fancy for Em."

"Yeah, that make sense," mumbled Scorpius. _Well at least he's not totally against the idea_ he thought.

"But man I'd give that person hell for it initially," Al grinned evilly. "Oi, looks like people are leaving. Think it's safe to start heading in?"

Scorpius nodded, trying to act normally. "Yeah, probably. Let's go. You owe me some treacle tart."

* * *

Early into the next day, around one in the morning, Scorpius lay wide awake in his bed thinking. While thoughts of Rose and his newly discovered feelings for her filled his mind, it wasn't the main cause for his insomnia. Rather there were four reasons, and they were coming from three different directions all around him.

"Fucking hell, this is ridiculous," he muttered, sitting up in his bed. Around him slept Al, James, Fred, and Louis, all of whom seemed be emitting different levels of snoring from their beds.

Swinging his legs off of the bed, he stood up and made his way to the door. Walking down the hall, he made it to the stairs and descended. Despite it being pitch dark, he never faltered once, having walking the halls of the Burrow many times before. In the kitchen, he was surprised to find the light already turned on and Ron Weasley sitting at the table sipping out of a mug and reading the previous days' Daily Prophet.

"You're up late Mr. Weasley."

Ron jolted and almost fell of his chair in the process of turning around. Clutching his chest, he said, "Bloody hell Scorpius, you scared me!"

Scorpius chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to." He walked to the table and sat opposite the older man.

Despite most people's expectations, Scorpius and Ron got along relatively well. While he had been a bit wary of the Malfoy heir during the first few years of his friendship with Al, Ron's caution had eventually faded. Two things had helped with this; the first was Scorpius' easygoing manner. It was quite hard to hate a kid who was friendly to everyone, and had never once made a negative or derogatory comment towards anyone. The second was their shared love of the Chudley Canons. Ron had even ceased to call him Ferret Junior after his third year, something that Rose had not followed however.

"Cocoa?" Ron offered. "Made it m'self," he said proudly, getting up to get another mug and filling it with a steaming liquid from a saucepan. Scorpius accepted and thanked him. Taking a sip, he let the hot drink warm him up.

"What are you doing up?"

"Your nephews," replied Scorpius, taking another sip of his drink. "Their combined snoring was keeping me up."

"Sorry about that. Two of those boys may be Potters, but they definitely inherited the Weasley snoring gene," Ron chuckled. "But don't you sleep in the same dorm year round as Al? Doesn't it bug you then?"

"Yeah, that's where curtains and a silencing charm come in."

"Well the couch is free, so you can sleep down here tonight if you want."

"Thanks Mr. Weasley."

"Please, it's Ron. Mr. Weasley is my father…. and all my brothers," Ron replied, making Scorpius laugh. "So how's the year going then? Still competing tooth and nail with Rosie?"

"Yeah, although I'm not sure I would call it competing," noted Scorpius. Ron tilted his head in question. "Let's just say that I'm easily the second best in the year, and I'm still quite a bit behind her in most classes."

Ron chuckled. "I wouldn't take it too hard. Gets her brains from her mother, that one. And there was no competition for Hermione when we were at school, not even from older students. She knew spells years before we'd even learned them."

Scorpius nodded in assent. "Yeah that's what my dad says too. I suppose it's a good thing there are two Head students instead of just one, or she'd beat me in that too," he mused, staring down at his mug. "But don't tell her I said that! She'd never let me live it down," he added, shuddering at the thought.

Ron smirked. "Your secret is safe. Although… it looked like you two were getting on a bit better earlier today. Anything I should know about?" he asked suspiciously.

"O-oh well… y-y-you know…. I-I-I…" he stuttered then broke off. He couldn't tell Rose's father that the reason he was making an effort to get along better with her was due to his recently discovered romantic feelings for her.

"Relax kid, I was just joking," the older man interrupted in amusement. "You two dating is less likely to happen than the Tornados winning the championship this year," he said, referring to the Quidditch team that had consistently come in last place for the past ten years. Scorpius laughed nervously, but grimaced as soon as Ron looked away. "Although to be honest, I might prefer you a tad bit more over that Corner kid." Scorpius' head snapped towards Ron, his face a mask of complete surprise, although the older man didn't notice. "At least I know you. From what I've heard from James, Al, and Hugo, Corner's quite a cocky bloke. I dunno what Rosie sees in him, she usually is a great judge of character."

"No argument here, sir." Ron quirked an eyebrow in question. "Let's just say Corner isn't one of my favorite people," Scorpius continued. "But to be fair, he seems to treat her well, so…" he trailed off.

Ron grunted. "I guess… I dunno, I guess I just don't like the thought of my Rosie dating anyone," Inwardly Scorpius hoped that Ron's opinion might change someday. Someday very soon in particular.

Wanting to change the subject, Scorpius asked, "Actually Mr. Weas Ron," Scorpius amended, "I was wondering if I could ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Well I've been looking into applying to the Auror program for when I finish school, and I was wondering…"

"What it's like?" finished Ron. Scorpius nodded. "Well I can't say I'm surprised. Al's never kept it a secret that the two of you were interested in joining the department. And Rosie's told me that Defense against the Dark Arts is one of the classes you're better than her in."

"She did?" Scorpius asked, surprised that Rose thought so. He had always though they were neck in neck in DADA, although he knew that she tended to have to work harder at it than he did.

"Yeah. Says it bothers her how effortlessly it seems to be for you. But don't tell her I told you that," he added hastily. "So what do you want to know?"

"Well I've done a lot of research on it. And last time Teddy was in Hogsmeade we talked to him about his training. So I guess my question is more… well… more to do with what exactly Aurors deal with these days? I mean it's not like back during the war when there were Death Eaters to fight and Voldemort to stop."

Ron nodded, thinking deeply about the question for a few moments. "You're right, it's not like it used to be. But we deal with more than you might think. While there aren't Death Eaters roaming about like before, we still deal with dark wizards. And contrary to belief, a lot of them still hold ideals that Voldemort used to believe in; blood purity, pureblood supremacy, dominance over muggles, and other ideas." Scorpius shook his head in revulsion. "The difference is they don't have a powerful wizard like Voldemort to lead them anymore, so they stick to hiding in the shadows. A lot of our recent cases have dealt with dark wizards trying to smuggle and collect dark magical objects."

"But what do they do with them?"

Ron looked around warily. "This stays between us, ok?" Scorpius nodded. "Lately we've been finding evidence that a group of people are working together to collect dark artifacts. We're not sure who's leading them or what they intend to use them for, so that's what we've been trying to discover."

"How?"

"Quite a few of our Aurors are undercover now. Infiltrating the smuggling rings and so forth. We're hoping they can discover a trail leading to whoever is in charge of the operation, and what their plans are."

Scorpius leaned back, completely fascinated. "Wow," he breathed.

"Still interested?" Ron asked amusedly.

"Definitely! And I know Al will be too."

Ron chuckled. "Two peas in a pod, aren't you two?" Scorpius grinned. "I can't say much else about our ongoing cases, but if you need any help with the application or have anymore questions feel free to ask me or Harry, yeah?"

"Sure Mr. Wea Ron." Silence hung over the kitchen for a few second before Scorpius said, "So did you catch the last Canons game?"

The two of them immediately dove into a discussion about how good the Canons' chances were against Puddlemere United that year, and how glad they were to have finally gotten a new seeker.

"Would you look at the time, I'd better be getting to bed," Ron said, checking his watch. "Night Scorpius. Don't stay up too late, you know we open presents at eight."

They both walked into the living room where Ron headed towards the stairs to go to his room. After grabbing a pillow and blanket from the hall closet, Scorpius collapsed on the couch and closed his eyes, rejoicing in the silence that surrounded him.

That silence lasted for about ten seconds.

"Ferret?"

Sighing, Scorpius opened his eyes. Of course it would be _her_. He couldn't seem to escape her, whether in person or in his mind. _Although to be fair, I'm staying in her family's house_. Sitting up he saw Rose standing by the stairs and groaned so softly that she couldn't hear. She was wearing the black tank top that hugged her curves and emerald green boxer shorts that showed off her legs again. Swallowing, he said, "Rose? What are you doing up?"

"Why are you on the couch?" she asked, walking towards him.

"I asked first," he countered.

She sighed and sat next to him. "Lily's current boyfriend of the week decided that it would be a good idea to owl her at two in the morning. I'm not sure what instructions he gave the owl, but it must've been something along the lines of 'give it to the girl with red hair' because the bloody owl went and pecked me awake since Lily's head was under the covers. And now I can't fall asleep." Scorpius shifted uncomfortably as she moved around to get comfortable on the couch, inching closer towards him in the process. "Now, what are you doing down here?"

Extremely aware of the very small distance that separated them, as well as her arm brushing against his slightly, he gulped and answered. "The snoring I have to deal with on a yearly basis has been magnified. Merlin help the girls that those boys marry, because they'll need it." Rose laughed gently and grabbed the blanket on his lap, pulling half of it over her legs. "Your dad said I could sleep down here."

"My dad?"

"Yeah, he was up too. Went to bed a few minutes ago." Rose nodded and they fell silent for a few minutes. Scorpius forced himself to not look at her as well as to not think about what he wanted to do with her at that very moment. Instead he forced other thoughts into his head. _Grandma… naked Al… Grandma and naked Al. _He scrunched his face up in disgust at the last thought, though it seemed to work.

"Why are you being so nice?" she suddenly blurted out. Scorpius turned to look at her confusedly, all his other thoughts effectively pushed aside. "Ever since last week you've been teasing me less. Not that I mind of course, but what's the deal?"

"I'm always nice Rose," he murmured in response.

"And that!" she pointed, as though it was something physical. "That too… you stopped calling me Weasels all the time."

Scorpius sighed. _Well I can't tell her the real reason, obviously_. So instead he told her a half-truth. "Well… I guess there's a good chance that we're gonna be Heads next year. I figure we may as well start cooperating more now itself." He shrugged, still looking down at his hands. "And it's not like we _hate _each other," he mumbled. "We just tend to tease each other a lot." Lifting his head, he found her looking surprised and flattered.

"Y-you think we're going to be Heads next year?"

"'Course, don't you?"

"Well I guess… I mean you're a shoe in," she said as though it was a fact. "There's not many other boys in our year that work as hard as you do."

"Is that a compliment?" he smirked, nudging her with his elbow.

"Shut up," she said, though she was smiling. "You know what I mean. But yeah, I guess you're probably gonna get it."

"And you?"

"I dunno, I have a bit more competition, don't I? Montague's not too far behind me in marks, and Darcy's also a strong contender. But… but I'd really like to get it. It's the one thing that could set me apart from my mum." He looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Well she was never Head Girl, was she?" Rose continued. "She went back to Hogwarts after the war ended, but she was just there doing the classes that she'd missed, nothing else. It'd be nice to have something that people couldn't use to compare us." she sighed. "But like I said, I have some tough competition."

Surprised that she'd shared such a seemingly private thought with him, he mulled over his answer for a few moments. "You're mental," he muttered. She shot him a look of indignation, but he continued before she could say anything. "You're mental if you actually think that Darcy or Lauren are even close to you in competition for the position. Lauren's not even at my level in classes, and I'm behind you. And Darcy? Yeah she might have a better chance than Lauren for it, but I'm positive that she's going to get the Hufflepuff Quidditch captaincy. She should've gotten in this year really, she's a better player than Christa. And I think McGonagall sees how being Quidditch captain and Head Girl is stressing out Christa," he mused thoughtfully. Shaking his head, he got back to the point. "But none of that matters. You're top of our year, and probably the most responsible and respected Prefect. Teachers love you, and so do other students, even those from other houses. You're gonna get it," he finished confidently.

Rose looked surprised. "Thanks, Scorp. That… that actually means a lot." Her blue eyes twinkled as she smiled at him, then looked down blushing slightly.

He smiled back, captured by her eyes. "Plus I'd rather share a dorm with you. Al would never visit if I shared with Darcy, and Merlin only knows what Lauren would try if we slept in rooms next to each other," he added jokingly.

Rose chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you don't have to worry about that with me," she said softly, missing Scorpius' grimace.

They sat and talked for a little while longer, about nothing in particular, just enjoying the solitude that was rarely found in the Burrow.

Twenty minutes later, she stood up and stretched. "I think I'm gonna go try and sleep. We have to be up in a few hours. Night Scorp," she said as she walked towards the stairs.

"Goodnight, Rose" he murmured as she climbed the stairs. Laying back down he stared at the ceiling smiling. Thoughts of Rose dominated his thoughts once again, but this time he found himself falling into an easy sleep, filled with dreams of her sparkling blue eyes.

* * *

**The Burrow, 9am**

The next morning the entire family, Scorpius, and Teddy's grandmother Andromeda, who had arrived earlier, sat around the living room, opening presents.

The parents all sat on the couches as the kids gathered their presents around them on the floor and began opening them. The entire living room filled with shouts of joy and thanks and hugs.

"Scorp! I knew all those hints weren't a waste," Al shouted, holding up his new pair of Seeker gloves. Scorpius grinned back as they did the handshake they'd invented in second year. "Thanks mate!"

"Well you only mentioned it like fifty times during the last Hogsmeade visit," Scorpius shot back at him. Grabbing the nearest package, he opened it and was genuinely surprised to find a grey sweater with and emerald "S" embroidered on the front. Looking back at Al's grandmother, he walked over to her and hugged her. "You didn't have to do this," he said pulling back, knowing that she only knitted sweaters for family members.

"Scorpius dear, you're part of the family. There's no escaping us now," she said affectionately, patting him on the head. He laughed and hugged her again, then slipped on the sweater proudly.

Walking back over to Albus and Rose, he found Rose opening the present he'd gotten her. She unwrapped the box, and opened it to find a brand new peacock quill inside. Gazing up at him in shock, she breathed, "How did you know?"

"You mentioned it when Al and I saw you at Scrivenshafts last Hogsmeade visit. I didn't now what else to get you, so I figured I may as well go with what I knew." _Well that's at least a little true _he thought. In actuality, while she had mentioned it during the Hogsmeade trip, Scorpius also knew Rose had a certain fondness for pretty quills. He'd seen her collecting them during various trips to Hogsmeade.

Rose stared at him for a few seconds before her face melted into a genuine smile at his thoughtfulness. She'd been obsessed with the one currently in her hands, but it had been a bit out of her price range. "Thanks Ferret," she said softly, using the nickname affectionately as opposed to teasingly. "I love it." She got up and surprised him by hugging him, which he responded to happily. Lily looked at the two of them with a small smile on her face, before returning to her own presents.

When it looked like most of the presents had been opened, Arthur stood up and said, "Alright, looks like everyone's done, time for "

"Actually Arthur, I have one more present," interrupted Teddy, his voice shaking slightly. Everyone turned to look at Teddy, who's hair was an unusual shade of pink as opposed to its usual electric blue. Andromeda, Harry, Ginny, Bill, and Fleur all had knowing looks in their eyes, but everyone else stared at Teddy in question, wondering why he was postponing their breakfast.

"Well get on with it mate, I'm hungry!" James called teasingly, earning a slap to the head from his mother.

Teddy turned to Victoire who was looking at him in confusion, and grasped her hands. "Vic. We've been together for quite a while now." Dominique and Lucy gasped softly in realization, as Teddy continued. "And while we've been dating for six years, you've been my best friend for much longer, ever since we were kids." Victoire smiled at him affectionately. "And I wanted to do this today, in front of our entire family. I wanted to show everyone just how much I truly love you."

Dropping her hands and bending down on one knee, he took out a box from his pocket and opened it, revealing a sparkling diamond ring. Victoire gasped softly and raised her hands over her mouth, tears gathering in her eyes. "This is the ring my dad gave my mum. It was returned to my grandmum just before they were buried, and she told me that it was mine to give to the woman I love. And I've known ever since I was seventeen that I was in love with you. I've always been in love with you. Even when we were just best friends, and you didn't want to ruin our friendship. Even when I had to convince you to take a leap of faith and give us a chance. Even when we had to deal with distance during your last year of school and my training. It didn't matter because I knew we would end up together."

Tears were silently falling down Victoire's beautiful face as she smiled adoringly at the boy in front of her. Scorpius looked around the room to find most of the girls tearing up, including Rose. Strangely, only Molly didn't look surprised at the scene in front of her, as she smiled at the scene knowingly.

"So I'm asking you to make me the happiest man alive. Will you marry me?" Teddy finished, looking at her hopefully.

Victoire sighed and stayed silent for a few moments before falling to her knees. "Of course, you idiot. Of course I will," she cried, throwing her arms around him. Wrapping his arms around her, he got up lifting her in the process as everyone started clapping. Leaning back, he kissed her briefly before setting her down and sliding the ring on her finger as everyone rushed over to hug and congratulate them.

"You don't look too surprised," muttered Scorpius, sliding up next to Molly.

She smirked at him. "Teddy told me four months ago." Scorpius raised his eyebrow. He knew that Teddy, Victoire, and Molly were extremely close, so Molly knowing didn't surprise him, but the knowledge that it had taken Teddy four months to propose did. "It's about time he did it, I was wondering if he'd ever work up the nerve," she finished, making Scorpius laugh, as the two walked over to give their congratulations to the couple as well.

"So Scorp, looks like you'll officially be part of the family now," said Teddy as they reached the group. Scorpius scrunched his face in confusion. "Well now you'll be your best mate's cousin-in-law's second cousin… or cousin once removed… or something like that…" Teddy trailed off as everyone laughed.

"I suppose I will," grinned Scorpius, hugging Teddy and Victoire. "Congrats you two."

"Thanks Scorp," Vic gushed, still gazing adoringly at her fiancee.

"Attention everyone, I'd like to make a toast," Harry said. The family quieted down and turned towards Harry as he looked at the couple. "Teddy. Even though you'll officially be in this family now, you've always been a member of this family. Both you and Andromeda have been. I just want to say how proud I am of you… how proud of you your parents would be. Remus and Tonks… well they were two of the best people I ever knew, and if they could see you today they would be so proud of the man you've become." Teddy's eyes began to tear up at his godfather's speech. "And while it's a shame that they aren't with us anymore, I hope you know that Ginny and I are here for anything you ever need, just as we always have been. You're practically our son. Hell, you're a better son than James is." Everyone laughed as Teddy cracked a smile through his tears.

"Hey!" cried James. "Low blow dad… low blow!" he exclaimed, though he grinned afterwards as Harry shot him a teasing smile.

"Anyways, I just wanted to say that I couldn't be more proud of you, and I'm so happy that you two found each other. To Teddy and Vic!" he finished, raising his coffee mug. Those who had mugs of their own did the same, as Teddy and Vic went over to hug their parents.

"Thanks," Teddy whispered as he hugged both Harry and Ginny. "You two have basically been my parents, and I couldn't be more lucky."

"I hope you know how much we love you Bear," Ginny whispered, using her nickname for him.

He kissed her on the cheek in response and nodded. "I love you both too."

* * *

In comparison with the start to the day, the rest of the morning passed by quite quickly and uneventfully. That was, until an urgent message arrived at one in the afternoon.

Rose had been outside in the garden with Al and Scorpius, preparing for the annual Weasley-Potter cousins snowball fight when the Patronus arrived. The only other cousins left at the Burrow were James, Lily, Hugo, Molly, and Lucy, the others having all left. Bill and Fleur had volunteered to take Andromeda back to her house, while Teddy and Vic made a quick exit to celebrate their engagement alone. George had needed to go back to the joke shop, Fred and Roxanne left with their mother, Audrey had left to visit her sister, and Louis and Dominique had floo'd straight back to Shell Cottage.

Just as she was setting about some markers to mark boundaries for the fight, Rose noticed a spark of light out of the corner of her eye. Turning towards it, she saw a fox Patronus soaring towards them.

"_Urgent message for Harry Potter_," the fox whispered when it arrived. It repeated itself once more before Rose ran inside to fetch her uncle. Two minutes later, Harry paced outside towards his assistant's patronus.

"_Breakout at Azkaban Mr. Potter_," whispered the fox. "_You're needed immediately_."

Harry nodded and took out his wand. Conjuring his own patronus, he whispered something to the stag and sent it back to his assistant. Rushing back inside, he was followed by Rose, Al, and Scorpius, who had abandoned all thoughts of the snowball fight.

"Ron! Hermione! Percy! We're needed at the Ministry. Now!" he called upstairs. Walking over to Ginny, he whispered something to her before going upstairs to brief the others.

Lucy and Molly walked over to Rose and the boys. "What's going on?"

"A Patronus came for Uncle Harry. There's been a breakout at Azaban," said Rose softly, her voice shaking.

"Who was it?" asked Lucy, her eyes wide.

"The message didn't say," replied Scorpius. "But it can't be good if they were locked up in Azkaban." The others nodded somberly. Turning they all saw Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Percy hurrying down the stairs.

"Rose, you and Hugo are to go to Al's if we're not back by this evening," Hermione said hugging her daughter.

"Ok mum. Be safe," Rose said hugging her mother before she hurried out the door with the others.

"So, who's ready for this fight. You all are going down!" shouted James, running down the stairs dressed in his winter jacket. Taking the serious expressions around him in, confusion filled his face. "What happened?"

The others filled him in, and needless to day, the snowball fight was abandoned as they all took seats around the living room instead, waiting for any news from Harry and the others.

Four hours later, and there was still no news. Scorpius sat on the couch with Hugo playing a game of chess, while the others were sprawled out in a circle by the fire playing a game of Exploding Snap. They hadn't been paying much attention however, so most of them had singed eyebrows and small scorch marks on their faces. Every once in a while they would look towards Molly's special clock, where the individual markers showed that their parents were still at the Ministry.

Finally at six o'clock, Harry's stag Patronus soared through the window towards Ginny. "S_ituation temporarily under control. Coming back now." _Twenty minutes later he, Ron, and Hermione trudged through the door looking weary. As Ginny hugged her husband, he said, "Luce, Molly. Your dad's still at the Ministry. He said your mum would be home later tonight around seven. She'll let you know when she's back." They nodded, and Harry beckoned Ginny into the kitchen where Molly and Arthur were, followed by Ron and Hermione.

As soon as the kitchen door closed, James jumped up and ran upstairs. A few minutes later he came back down with a bunch of Extendable Ears in his hands and handed them out to everyone. Only Rose hesitated at taking a pair, but she eventually gave in and they all rushed over to the door. Quieting down, they began to listen.

"… but how Harry? How is this possible?" asked Arthur.

"Not sure. They were under high security."

"Is there any idea about where they may go? What they might do?" came Ginny's steady voice.

"None whatsoever." The kids heard Harry sigh heavily before continuing. "The guards… well the guards say that over the last ten years, the Carrows have gotten worse."

James looked at the others and mouthed "_Carrows?" _Only Rose looked shocked. She looked at the others, shook her head and whispered, "After," then turned back towards the door.

"… looking into the possibility that someone on the outside is helping them."

"Who would help such monsters?" whispered Ginny.

"We think… we think that it might be someone who escaped imprisonment. Possibly someone who wasn't caught after the final battle. There's no way the Carrows escaped on their own, they're not mentally capable of something like that," said Ron.

"Any idea who it might be?"

"Not yet… which is why we have to go in to the Ministry tomorrow."

"Ok. Rose and Hugo can come to ours for the day. Let's go tell them."

Reacting immediately, the kids jumped up and sprinted back to the living room. Attempting to arrange themselves randomly, they tried to make it seem as though they had been amusing themselves and not eavesdropping.

Harry and the others came out of the kitchen. Taking one look at the lot of them, he quirked an eyebrow and said, "You can stop pretending, I know you were listening."

"What do you mean dad we were just oh alright, stop looking at me like that," he gave in under his father's glare. "What gave us away?"

"Just the extendable ears hanging out of your pocket," Harry said amusedly. "And the fact that you're _my_ sons, and it's exactly what I did at your age."

Albus hit James across the back of head. "Nice one you idiot." James tried to retaliate, but Albus jumped out of his reach.

"No it's ok," Harry sighed. "You should know what's going on, this affects all of you. I assume you know the basics from eavesdropping?" They all nodded. Taking a deep breath, he sat down and began. "After the war ended, most of the Death Eaters that had remained loyal to Voldemort were rounded up and imprisoned in Azkaban. They were given fair trials and found guilty of crimes against the Wizarding community, as well as other charges. While we imprisoned most of them, there were some that were never accounted for. Whether they died in the battle and their bodies were never recovered, or they deserted Voldemort just before he fell, we don't know, but they vanished without a trace." Everyone was listening intently as Harry continued. "Earlier today I got a message from the prison. Two of the most highly guarded Death Eaters have escaped."

"The Carrows," whispered Rose.

Harry turned toward her. "I take it you know who they are then Rose?" Rose nodded while the others shook their heads. "Alecto and Amycus Carrow. Two of Voldemort's most devoted and fanatical followers. During the year that Ron, Hermione, and I weren't at school, they were appointed as the Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies professors."

"More like Dark Arts and Muggle Hating," muttered Ginny.

Harry nodded. "Let's just say they weren't the most pleasant people. Luckily your Uncle Neville managed to find the Room of Requirement, and most of the students in danger hid out there for the year. After the war, they were given life sentences in Azkaban, with no possibility of parole."

"And they've escaped?" whispered Lily. Molly put a comforting arm around her.

"Yes. We think they might've had help, that it could be related to another case we've been working on, but we're still looking into it." Scorpius flashed back to his conversation about the dark artifact smuggling rings with Ron as Harry continued. "All that aside, the reason I telling you all of this is because you need to be careful. The guards have said that over the years, both the Carrows have been losing their minds more and more, muttering revenge threats and so on. There's good reason to believe that they mean them against anyone who was involved in Voldemort's demise, and their loved ones."

"S-so… so they could come after us?" asked Lucy, her voice shaking slightly.

Harry hesitated and glanced at Ron and Hermione before answering. "It's… it's a possibility." He turned to Scorpius and said, "Scorpius you have to be careful too. Your grandmother was instrumental in Voldemort's demise, and in the years since the war your father has shown that he doesn't believe in those ideals anymore or tolerate them. There's a good chance that he's a target as well." Scorpius' already pale face drained of what little color it had, but he nodded silently. "I've sent an owl to him explaining the situation, but that you're still safe here." Turning back to the rest of the kids he said, "You should all be safe at Hogwarts, but even still when you go back please don't go wandering off alone. You're not the only ones in danger, most of the students there are related to someone who opposed Voldemort. We're increasing the security there once school resumes just to be precautious."

The room sat in silence for a while, everyone processing this information, before Harry spoke again. "And kids, please don't share all this information with everyone. Professor McGonagall will be informing the students when they get back to school, so for now, keep it to yourselves." They all nodded.

"Alright well we'd best be getting home," said Ron. "Rose, Hugo, go pack your things."

"Us too," said Ginny, as the kids ran upstairs.

"This is bad guys. Really bad," Rose said, once they'd gotten upstairs. Hugo and Lily had gone to their own rooms to grab their things, while the older cousins met in the boys' room. "I've read about the Carrows. They used to torture students who opposed their beliefs, no matter what age they were." The others' faces paled.

After a few more moments of silence, Albus spoke up. "Should we tell Ella and Aiden to cancel the party?"

The others were silent for a while before Scorpius spoke up. "I don't think we need to. Their mansion is really protected. You know how Malfoy Manor has a lot of wards around it?" The others nodded. "Well their's has even more. Their grandmother got really paranoid towards the end of the war. It's even unplottable, and unless you know it's location you can't apparate or floo there. We'll just get Ella to send everyone who's invited the address, and tell them to keep it a secret. And as long as everyone stays within the confines of the protection spells, we should be fine."

"Ok," said Rose. "But maybe we should tell Ella and Aiden anyways. Emily and Lorcan will know, since their parents have probably been told. I know our parents said not to, but they should know." The others agreed and the girls left to gather their things.

Once downstairs, everyone said their goodbyes to Arthur and Molly and left for their separate destinations.

* * *

**And there it is, chapter 3 and some new developments. I'm in the middle of finals right now, but after that I'm done with undergrad and free to write more. So chapter 4 should be coming within a few weeks!**

**As always, reviews make me write faster ;)**

**Next up: An extremely eventful New Years Eve party**


	5. It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To

**AN: Hello my lovelies! A thousand apologies that this chapter has taken so much time, but I think once you all read it you will (hopefully) be happy. I spent a lot of time perfecting it, and also I've just had a ton of things going on in my life that needed taking care of before I could concentrate on this chapter. But because I made you wait so long, I also made this chapter EXTRA long ;). As in 38 pages on Word. So I hope it is to your liking!**

**I've got some of my job stuff figured out in my life so hopefully that means the next chapter will come soon. I also want to thank everyone who's favorited, followed, and reviewed this story. You guys are what keeps me writing! Anyways, enjoy! And please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, only the story.**

* * *

**Saturday, December 31st, 2022**

**Zabini Estate, Upper Flagely, Yorkshire, 1:30pm**

The afternoon of December 31st found Rose, Scorpius, and Albus trudging up the path leading to the Zabini's house.

"I never get tired of these grounds," sighed Rose. "They're so gorgeous."

Scorpius smirked. "Funny you mention it. Ella's grandmother used to always boast about how Zabini estate had the best kept grounds and gardens, something she was really proud of. So Grandfather Lucius decided that Malfoy Manor's grounds had to look better than this place, because of course the Malfoys _have_ to be better than everyone," he said sarcastically. "He never succeeded though, since he lost most of his money making reparations after the war, something that always amused Ella's grandmother."

"Your family had to make reparations?" Albus asked.

"Well, not my dad and grandmum. After the war, most of Lucius' assets were seized. While he was in Azkaban, the Ministry decided that at least half of his money should be given to the fund used to rebuild homes that had been destroyed by the Death Eaters. My grandmum had money in her name, and my dad's trust fund was under his control since he was of age, so believe me we still had plenty. But my dad also decided to donate money to helping rebuild Hogwarts. I think he felt slightly responsible for its damage," he finished quietly, looking down at the ground as they walked.

"That was really good of him," Rose said, smiling at Scorpius.

He smiled back. "Yeah I suppose. Still, despite that he still had quite a sizable trust fund. Enough to rebuild a few rooms in Malfoy Manor, and still live comfortably."

"Your grandfather must've loved that," Albus snickered.

Scorpius chuckled. "Not much he could do about it. His punishment included the Manor and all its land passing immediately onto my father. The only thing he let Lucius do was take care of the gardens, which he used some of my grandmother's money for. It's why we've still got those ridiculous damn peacocks running around."

Albus and Rose snorted at the mention of the regal looking white peacocks that strolled the grounds of Malfoy Manor. Reaching the front door, Scorpius lifted the door knocker and knocked three times. A few minutes later, a harried looking Mrs. Zabini answered the door.

"Oh hello kids! We weren't expecting you for another little while," she exclaimed, ushering them inside quickly.

"Sorry Mrs. Zabini," said Rose as she hugged her. "My parents had to run into the Ministry, so they asked us to head over here a little earlier. I hope that's ok."

"Of course it is, dear! Yes, your mum called and told me about the breakout," she said as she hugged Al and Scorpius too. "Terrible, terrible."

"She did?" Rose asked confused. She was under the impression that the Ministry was trying to keep it hushed until they made the official announcement.

"Yes. She seemed to think that the Carrows might try and go after Ella and Aiden as a means of recruiting Blaise since he's the last of the pureblood Zabinis," she said a little sadly. The others looked at each other, not sure what to say.

Trying to lighten the mood, Albus said, "Don't worry Mrs. Z, chances are they'd go after Rose and me first, seeing as our parents were directly responsible for their imprisonment."

Rose elbowed him in the stomach. "Not helpful," she hissed.

"Oh God, Albus dear, don't even joke about that," Evelyn said, though she smiled at him fondly. "Anyways, Aiden's helping Emily at the pub this afternoon so that she can come over later, and Ella went to lunch with her friend Andrew, but you're more than welcome to wait for them. I think Ella should be back soon."

The trio followed Ella's mother into the house. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"

"We had breakfast at my house, but if you have anything lying around I wouldn't mind…" Albus trailed off.

Mrs. Zabini chuckled. "Of course, you're growing boys. Come on, I'll whip up something quickly."

"Oh no, I don't want to put you out Mrs. Z," protested Albus.

"Nonsense dear, it'll be good for me. My own children are always running off somewhere, so I never get to do anything for them," she smiled, leading them into the kitchen.

The three of them sat down as Evelyn began to pull things out of the fridge. "So I hear you're off to Greece for a couple days?" asked Rose.

"Yes, I've always wanted to go, so Blaise decided to surprise me. I wanted to take the kids, but they were adamant about staying here with all of you for New Years. I suppose they don't want to celebrate with their old parents."

"Only old in age, but very young at heart," said Blaise as he snuck up behind Evelyn and pecked her on the cheek. Sitting down with the others, he said, "Hiya kids." The trio greeted him. "And where are my children? Don't tell me they're still in bed?"

Rose laughed. "No, Mr. Zabini. We came a bit early. Aiden's helping Emily, and Ella's on a date."

"A date you say? Who is this boy? Hmm I must question this lad as to his intentions. See what kind of dowry will be needed." The three kids laughed while Evelyn playfully hit her husband on the head.

"Oh stop it, leave the poor girl alone," she said, setting a platter of sandwiches down on the table.

"This looks great Mrs. Z, thanks," said Scorpius, helping himself to two sandwiches.

"Yeah, fanks," said Albus, mouth already full.

Evelyn ruffled his hair affectionately. "It's no problem."

A while later, Emily and Aiden walked into the kitchen. "Mm something smells good mum. Oh hi you lot," Aiden said upon seeing his friends. The boys nodded in greeting while Rose waved and got up to hug Emily, and they all sat back down at the table.

Twenty minutes later Ella strolled into the kitchen looking quite happy. Upon seeing her friends she stopped and adopted a confused look. "Weren't you guys supposed to come later?"

Rose grinned. "Yeah sorry El, my parents had to go to work early so we came over a bit ahead of time. But never mind all that, how was your date?" Rose asked.

Blushing and noticing her brother, dad, and the other two boys looking to interested in her answer, she muttered, "I'll tell you and Em later."

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "And might I ask who this chap is?"

Avoiding her father's eye, Ella groaned. "Dad please, not now."

Blaise turned to Aiden expectantly who looked back and forth between his father's expectant stare and his sister's warning glare. "Sorry dad, she scares me more. But he's on the Quidditch team with me and a nice enough bloke."

"A Ravenclaw eh? Very well, I suppose the background check can wait until the new year," he said, winking at Ella who rolled her eyes.

"Blaise, stop teasing her. Come on, we'd better get the suitcases, the portkey leaves in a half an hour. So kids you'll be away for tonight, but back tomorrow?"

"Yeah mum, there's a small party at Teddy's house, just the Weasley cousins mostly, then the girls are saying over at Molly Weasley's apartment while the boys stay with Teddy," Ella lied smoothly.

"Alright just be safe and everything. You know the combo to the safe if you need any money, and Pokey's here to cook you food."

"I know mum, thanks."

"Ok, well we'll miss you darlings." Evelyn hugged them all. "Be good and have fun."

She walked out of the kitchen. Blaise got up to follow her but as soon as she was out of earshot, he turned back to the kids. "Alright you lot, I was young once so I know there will probably be drinking tonight. There's not much I can do to stop it, so just be safe please?"

"Drinking? Us?" Aiden said, a little to innocently. "Dad how could you even- yeah fine, we'll be safe," he broke under is father's amused stare.

"You better. Have fun, but not too much, and see you in a few days," he said, clapping his son on the back, kissing the top of Ella's head, then waving to the rest of the kids.

* * *

Thirty minutes later the parents left, and Ella turned to the others. "Alright, time to get this place party ready," she grinned. "Scorp, Al, and Aiden, you guys go around and gather up anything valuable. Take it to dad's study, because we're sealing off that room tonight. And make a list of where everything goes. Nothing will get past mum the interior decorator. Rose, Em, and I will start decorations and then food." The others nodded. "Also we're gonna have to double up on rooms tonight."

"How come? I thought you said there was enough for everyone to have their own room?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah, but I forgot that 4 of the extra bedrooms are being used for storage, and dad sealed off three others since we don't have that many guests. So there are five left, and ten of you." She turned to Emily. "Em, are you staying over?"

"Yeah."

"Alright so you can stay with Aiden, then I'm thinking James and Al, Lorcan and Scorp, Rose and Molly, Lucy and Dom, and Fred and Liz. Does that work?"

"Oh thank god, no more Potter snoring," said Scorpius happily, dancing around to dodge a punch from Al.

Aiden smirked, "Yeah now you just have to deal with Scamander snoring."

Scorpius' smile slipped right off his face as the others laughed. "Fuck."

* * *

"So, the date?" Rose prodded. The girls were currently in the kitchen getting snacks together. They'd finished decorating the few rooms where most of the party would take place.

"Oh right," said Ella while raiding the pantry. "We had lunch at this little cafe near his house. It was… nice."

"Nice?" asked Emily while cutting up vegetables.

"Yeah nice. I mean… well… I dunno, it's just he talked about Quidditch an awful lot. And you know me, I love Quidditch, I'm on the team for Merlin's sake, but I thought we might have some other interests in common."

"So not a good date then?" asked Rose as she gathered a variety of cookies together.

Ella smirked. "Well the snogging was good."

The other two laughed. "You little minx," laughed Emily.

Ella smiled. "So did Aiden get over whatever tiff you guys were having? He seemed ok over the past few days."

Emily sighed. "Not so much get over it as ignore that it ever happened and pretend everything is ok."

"What was it even about?"

"Nothing major. He just mentioned our future and kids and stuff and I may have freaked out a little," she quietly trailed off at the end.

Rose chuckled "Isn't the bloke usually the one who's supposed to be scared of commitment?"

"I'm not scared of commitment," Emily protested, "I just don't want to make any major plans when our futures aren't completely determined. I mean I'm positive I'm going to marry that boy, but he wants to play Quidditch and that involves traveling, not even to mention that he might not play for a team in England, and… well… I just don't want to hold him back. I don't want him to be disappointed if we plan everything now and it doesn't happen accordingly."

"That makes sense. Did you tell him that?"

"I tried to," Emily sighed. "But he left so quickly that day that I couldn't explain it properly. And I've tried bringing it up since then but he just changes the subject. He's ignoring the issue and pretending like it never happened."

"That sounds like my brother. He was never good with confrontation."

"Yeah well I'm not letting it go any further. I'm making him talk tonight if it's the last bloody thing I do."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" asked Rose.

"Oh I have my ways," said Emily, with a devious look on her face. "I figure tonight after the party, when it's just the two of us I should be able to make him talk. He's usually pretty tired after we-"

"Nononono lalalalala lalala lala," shouted Ella suddenly, plugging her ears until Emily stopped talking and stared at her in confusion. "Em, please, I_ do not _want to know about what you and my brother get up to when you're alone."

Emily laughed and help up her hands in apology. "Sorry. Sometimes I forget you're not just my best friend, but also my boyfriend's sister."

"Yeah yeah, let's just leave it at you're going to talk to him. Alright so the food is ready, time to go spell the stairs." The other two looked at her in confusion, so she beckoned for them to follow her. "We're going to restrict the party to downstairs. Mels taught me this fantastic spell that allows only certain people to enter a room, and I modified it to apply to the staircases."

"Nott knows that complex of a spell?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. Her brother is always trying to get into her room at home so she used it so only she could get in. Basically I just have to say the spell once, then repeat it including the names of each person allowed upstairs. Lucky the Ministry can't detect who is doing magic." Turning to the staircase, she took out her wand. "Termino totus, " she muttered, swishing her wand, then jabbing it towards the staircase. Stepping forward, she was stopped by some invisible barrier. Satisfied, she raised her wand again and said, "Termino totus praeter Daniella Zabini." Stepping forward again, she was able to walk up the staircase. Turning around she said, "Go on, try and get up here."

Emily walked towards the staircase. Putting her hand on the banister, she attempted to climb the first step, only to be stopped by the invisible barrier. "That's brilliant," she said. "I've got to try this at home. Maybe it'd stop Tommy from trying to snoop in my room all the time."

Ella smiled as walk descended the staircase. Turning back to the stairs, she began to repeat the spell for everyone staying over. As she got to the end, Rose put out a hand to stop her. "Wait. Why don't we mess around with the boys a little," she said, grinning evilly.

Ella looked interested. "What did you have in mind?"

* * *

"I can't believe she did that," Aiden said as he picked up a porcelain vase off a stand.

"Believe it mate, it was hilarious," said Al.

"I would _not_ describe it as hilarious Albus Severus Potter. More like humiliating," Scorpius snapped. Scorpius had just finished telling Aiden about the howler Ava had sent him at the Potters earlier in the week. "It bloody exploded just as we were sitting down for dinner, yelling that I'd probably cheated on her and who was the 'whore' I was cheating with. That girl is bloody insane."

"That's lightly putting it," said Al. "Although I think James, Lily, and my parents were all quite entertained."

"Merlin your parents must think I'm awful."

"Nah. Dad said Uncle Ron had to deal with a similarly clingy girlfriend in his sixth year. Although apparently she would just burst into tears all the time," he laughed.

"At this point I'd take anything over the anger," Scorpius muttered.

"No you wouldn't," interjected Aiden. "Remember last year when Lorcan dated that bird- what was her name- Lisa? No Liza! Yeah Liza. Anyways he dated her for what, a month, and then dumped her. She went through some sort of anger phase, and right after that was some kind of seduction phase. She kept trying to snog him all over the place. We'd be walking to class, and she'd yank him into some broom cupboard or empty classroom out of nowhere."

Scorpius groaned. "Merlin that's the last thing I need. What are the chances that Ava will skip the party tonight?"

Albus nodded his head thoughtfully for a few moments before saying, "Slim to none."

"Bloody fantastic. Well I'm spending the entire night avoiding her then."

"That's the spirit!" Aiden said sarcastically, clapping Scorpius on the back enthusiastically. "Avoid the problem, always a good plan."

Scorpius lifted an eyebrow. "Hark who's talking. Talk to Emily about your future recently?"

Aiden froze and narrowed his eyes. "That's completely different."

"Is it? Explain please."

Aiden balked. "I- I mean we just- Well I- oh bugger off." He turned and stomped down the hall to go fetch another vase.

Scorpius turned to Al, who shot him a scolding glare. "Was that really necessary?"

Scorpius sighed and gestured for them to follow Aiden. When they reached him, Scorpius said, "Sorry mate, that was uncalled for."

Aiden sighed. "But you're right. I have been avoiding the subject with her," he said. "I just… I don't wanna fight about it with her anymore. I just wanna forget it ever happened so we can go back to normal."

"Has she tried to talk to you about it again?" Albus asked.

"Yeah," Aiden sighed, "But I keep changing the subject or finding a quick excuse to leave the room. I'm just… I'm just worried that she doesn't see a future for us, that she's just telling me she does to not hurt me."

Scorpius scoffed. "Bollocks. If you two aren't meant to end up together, then I'm a flobberworm. And as you can see I am not a flobberworm, but an extremely handsome bloke." Albus and Aiden rolled their eyes. "You need to talk to her. She probably wants to just explain herself."

"Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right," Scorpius answered confidently, earning a skeptical looks from Aiden and an eye roll from Albus.

The girls picked that moment to enter the room, with their hands behind their backs. "Hey boys," greeted Ella. "How's the valuables round up going?"

Aiden answered. "Good. This was the last hall, so we're done. What's next?"

"I think we're pretty much done, so we were just going- THINK FAST!"

On the last two words Ella, Rose, and Emily whipped out snowballs from behind their backs, and proceeded to throw them at the boys. Momentarily stunned, the boys reacted a few seconds late, giving the three girls a head start in sprinting out down the hall and towards the staircase.

"What the bloody hell?!" yelled Aiden. He ran after the girls, followed closely by Albus and Scorpius. "I swear to Merlin we'll get you back for that."

The three boys chased the girls down the hall, and around the corner towards the staircase.

"Seriously, you three better ru- OOMPH!" Suddenly Aiden ran into the invisible barrier at the staircase, with Albus and Scorpius crashing into him from behind. The three of them fell backwards onto the ground, almost comically, while the girls burst into laughter on the stairs.

"You… should… see… your… faces," wheezed Rose as she clutched her stomach.

Albus, Scorpius, and Aiden all sat up and groaned, each one holding a different injured part of their body. "What the hell is this?" groaned Albus.

Ella descended down the steps. "Just a little spell for only allowing certain people upstairs tonight."

Getting up, Scorpius walked forward and reached out towards the stairs, only for his hand to hit the invisible barrier. "Brilliant. Bloody awful right now, but brilliant," he conceded. "Is this the same one Mels uses at home?"

Ella nodded. "Yeah, she taught it to me. Alright, let me add you guys now that the fun is over," she grinned, while the boys glared at her use of the word 'fun.' "What? Don't blame me, it was Rose's idea."

Rose gasped. "Traitor!"

"Oh ha bloody ha. Rose's idea or not, just you wait until we get all of you back," Albus informed them. "When you least expect it." The girls merely kept smiling, while Rose shot him a 'bring it on' look.

* * *

After Ella had added the boys with the spell, the six of them headed to the kitchen to eat an early dinner. Just as they were finishing eating, a loud knock was heard from the front hall. "Must be Lorcan. I'll get him," Aiden offered.

"How come he didn't come earlier?" Emily asked.

"Um I think Luna and Rolf took them to London today. Some family outing or something."

"Bloody tiring is what it was," said Lorcan, following Aiden into the kitchen. He quickly greeted them all before sitting down. "We spent the whole day going around parks so mum and dad could look for some new species of Crumple Horned Snorkacks. And of course Lysander went along with it, trying to suck up to them because he's been itching for a new broom. So I was left with Sarah, who talked my ear off about Albus the entire time." Albus groaned. Mimicking Sarah's voice, Lorcan continued. "'Oh Lorcan what do you think Albus' favorite color is? Do you think he'd like this t-shirt if I bought it for him? It would go so nicely with his eyes,' and blah blah blah. I love you mate, but I swear, there's only so much I can hear about your 'sparkling green eyes'."

The others all laughed as Albus just put his face in his hands.

"But I have the perfect way to unwind, for us all." Lifting his bag, Lorcan reached inside and pulled out a large bottle Firewhiskey and grinned.

"How did you get that?!"

"Nicked it from my dad," he grinned. "What's say we get this party started a little early?"

"Hold on. Let's get ready for the party, then start," Ella reasoned. "I don't fancy trying to do my make up while drunk." She grabbed her brother's arm to look at his watch. "It's five thirty now, let's get ready and meet back down here say… Seven? Party's at eight, so that should give us plenty of time."

"Fair enough," Lorcan said. "What room am I in?"

"Oh right. You guys can pick whatever rooms you want, but Lorcan you're sharing with Scorp. We have to double up on rooms. All the rooms have their own bathrooms. Em, Rose, go shower then come to my room. We can get ready together." The two girls agreed and they all left to get ready.

* * *

An hour later, Emily, Rose, and Ella were in Ella's room doing each other's make up.

"Rose what color is your dress?" Emily asked. "I need to figure out your eye shadow colors."

"I'm deciding between a royal blue one or emerald green with silver sequins. What do you think?"

"Is the green one the one we picked out together? From Hogsmeade?" Rose nodded. "Then definitely that one. So when's Zach getting here?"

Rose sighed. "I think he's coming with most of the Ravenclaw team. He said they'd come soon after eight. I dunno I think he might still be a little mad at me."

"Why?" Ella asked as she dried her hair with her wand.

"He finally flat out asked me why I was avoiding meeting his parents, so I told him I didn't think I was ready. He didn't seem to happy about that."

"Hmph, well that his problem. Don't give in to what he wants if you don't feel comfortable with it Rosie," Ella declared confidently.

"Yeah… The funny thing is I don't think he's mad, but more sad. Like he thought we were at that place. I dunno, we seem to be on two different levels in this relationship."

"Are you… are you thinking of breaking up with him?" Emily asked cautiously.

"Oh god no, nothing that serious. Merlin I'm making this it to be something more than it is. I think I just have to sit him down and explain where I'm at right now. I must've given him some impression that I was ready for that step or something." she shrugged. "But no more about this. Tonight is drama free."

Ella snorted. "Ha! Drama free? Let's count the ways that _won't_ happen. First we've got Scorpius' very recent ex girlfriend coming, and Merlin knows she's been causing shit for him all week. Second, Albus' crush is coming with her boyfriend, and Albus himself has a date, so that should be interesting. Then if course there's the fact that half the girls coming have been involved with either Lorcan or James at some point or another, and Lorcan has a date, so that's a disaster waiting to happen. Oh and then there's thelittlefactthatLaureniscom ing," Ella finished, speeding up at the end on purpose.

Rose's eyes snapped open causing Ella to mess up slightly on her make up. "Rose!" Emily cried, trying to fix the messed up eye shadow.

Rose waved her hand away and turned toward Ella. "What was that last part?" she hissed.

"Um well, Lauren and some of her friends might be coming," she said, though it was posed as more of a question.

Rose looked incredulous. "Why would they be coming?!"

Ella sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry Rosie, really I am. But Lauren lives near Andrew and saw us at lunch today. She came over to say hi to him, and he let it slip about the party tonight. I couldn't not invite her after that."

"Yes! Yes you could have!" Rose cried.

"Rose be reasonable. Look I know she's not your favorite person, and you two have this weird competition going on, but I made her promise that she'd be on her best behavior tonight, and that I wouldn't hesitate to kick her out if she started anything with you."

Rose huffed but didn't say anything further as she closed her eyes to let Emily fix her make up. "Ok, but I swear if she starts anything, I will hex her."

Ella smiled. "And you have my full permission. So which do you think Andrew will like better, the silver or the black dress?"

"Black, definitely black," Emily said. Rose nodded in agreement.

"Black it is," said Ella, going into her bathroom to change. She came out five minutes later decked out in a strapless black baby doll dress that stopped mid-thigh.

"Gorgeous," gushed Emily.

Rose nodded in agreement. "You look stunning El."

Ella smiled and went over to get her make up done while Rose gathered her dress and went to change. Pulling the dress over her head, she looked in the mirror. Now that she got a full look at it, she noticed was looking very Slytherin tonight. The dress was emerald green. It had a one shouldered strap, and flowed loosely to just about mid thigh. Contrasting beautifully with the green were silver sequins randomly sewn in all over the material. Lifting plain silver belt, she put it around the dress to cinch it around her waist. Finished, she looked in the mirror and was pleased with the outcome. As she walked out of the bathroom, she asked, "So what do you think?"

"Perfect!" Emily said, while Ella nodded and haves a thumbs up as her lipstick was being applied. "Now for your hair, I was thinking you should put it up to show of the design of the dress."

"Sounds good to me. We almost ready? The boys aren't above starting without us." The other two nodded as Rose sat down to do her hair.

At ten past seven the girls were finally ready and headed downstairs. Hearing voices coming from the living room, they opened the doors to find the boys strewn around the room, and quite a bit of the firewhiskey already gone.

"Merlin, we're only ten minutes late!" Ella admonished. "You couldn't wait?"

"Oh shut it, and just start drinking," retorted Lorcan, handing her the bottle and a few glasses. Ella rolled her eyes before taking it from him and sitting down next to him on the floor. She poured a generous amount of firewhiskey into the three glasses and handed two of them to Rose and Emily. Emily then went over to sit on Aiden's lap on his chair, while Rose took the seat between Albus and Scorpius on the couch, across from Lorcan and Ella.

Leaning towards Rose, Scorpius smiled and said softly, "That's a really nice color on you Weasels."

Rose blushed slightly before grinning at him. "Thanks Ferret. Emily decided on it." Scorpius made a mental note to thank Emily later, as Rose was once again decked out in his favorite color. "I dunno how much Zach will like it though, he's not too keen on the color green."

Scorpius scoffed. "We'll he's an idiot then, you look fantastic." Rose looked down before giving him a weak smile.

"Are you two done flirting or can we get on with it?" Lorcan asked sarcastically, causing the two of them to break out of the moment.

"Oh sod off," Rose retorted, missing Scorpius' slight blush. "And get on with what? We're not doing anything."

"Well, while you two were making googly eyes at each other, we decided to play 'never have I ever.'"

"I thought we decided on truth and dare earlier?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah well buzzkill over here," he indicated toward Ella, who shot him a rude hand gesture, "said no dares while they're in their dresses. So we're doing this instead. Basic rules, you put a finger down and drink if you've done the given thing. If you say something you've done just to get someone else out, you have to double drink. I think that's it." Lorcan grinned and lifted his hand, wiggling his fingers as indication for everyone else to mirror him.

"I want it to go on record that I think this is an awful idea," Scorpius declared.

"Noted and disregarded," Ella replied, Albus stifling a snicker. "Alright I'll go first. Never have I ever… been caught by McGonagall with my pants down while snogging in a broom cupboard."

Lorcan's eyes widened and he turned to her as everyone else doubled over in laughter. "You bitch," he laughed while putting his first finger down. "You said you wouldn't tell anyone!"

"_I_ didn't, you did," Ella snickered.

"When… did that… happen?!" Aiden asked, clutching Emily so he didn't fall over.

"Last year," grumbled Lorcan, taking a long drink from his cup. "McGonagall was doing rounds that night instead of the prefects. She caught me with Jessica Lewis. Bloody witch took away fifty points and gave me two weeks worth of detentions."

"You told me that that was because you'd gotten into a fight with that seventh year bloke, Damien!" Rose exclaimed.

"Yeah well that sounds a lot better than the actual story. Alright my turn," he said, glaring evilly at Ella. "Never have I ever had a crush on Albus."

The group turned towards Ella who visibly blanched and put down a finger. "Ok ok. What the idiot failed to mention was it was back in third year. And it wasn't even serious, I just thought he was cute." She took a long drink as Albus raised his eyebrows and sent her a mocking wink causing her to choke then laugh. "Alright Em you're- wait, why do you have a finger down? Oh my god, when did you have a crush on Albus?!"

Emily huffed. "How do you know McGonagall didn't just catch me snog- oh all right, don't get you knickers in a twist. It was when we were like eight ok? He and James were the only boys I'd ever been around, and James was always off with Fred and Louis."

"Ladies, no need to make excuses," Albus said with dramatic flair. "We all know I'm irresistible." Their reply came in the form of two cushions being thrown at him.

"Yeah yeah, alright my turn. Mmmmm, never have I ever…" Emily said thoughtfully. Suddenly her face lit up. "Never have I ever had a sex dream about a shirtless James Potter."

Albus and Scorpius spit out what was in their mouths, while Rose and Lorcan's jaws dropped and Aiden made a face.

"Em, what the hell?!" Ella exclaimed, while Emily hid her laughing face in Aiden's shirt, and the others stared at Ella. "That was a sodding secret! What is this, 'call Ella out' night?"

"Ew, Ella you had a crush on me, then fantasized about my brother?" Albus said, making a face.

"Ok well those things were like three years apart," she replied defensively.

"Wait, so this dream was recent?" Rose asked, mentally calculating the time.

"Ok no, we are _not_ talking about my sister's dirty dreams while I'm here," Aiden interrupted, before Rose could launch a full on interrogation. "Save it for the slumber party girls, it's my turn." Ella sent a silent thanks to her brother and he nodded back.

"Never have I ever-"

His turn was interrupted when green flames erupted in the fireplace. As the flames died down, James Potter emerged from the fireplace carrying a large case, followed by Louis, Fred, and Fred's girlfriend Liz.

"As per you request my lady, the drinks," James said teasingly, walking over to Ella. "Where should I put this?" He smiled at Ella, who blushed slightly and put on a strained smile as the group focused their intention on her. Lorcan was not so subtly wagging his eyebrows at her, while Scorpius attempted to stifle his laughter and Albus still looked a bit disgusted. Before she could answer, Emily winked suggestively at her, causing Ella to shoot death glares at all four of them. Confused, James began to turn around. "What's going on-"

Ella immediately turned him back towards her and said, "Um nothing. Let's go away from here and put it in the kitchen." Steering him towards the doors, she turned around to scowl at her friends again, only to find them all laughing and Fred, Louis, and Liz looking very confused. Sighing, she followed James out the room and towards the kitchen.

"That was pretty mean," said Rose before erupting into a fit of laughter. "But Merlin, so worth anything she'll retaliate with." The others nodded as Louis and Fred gave up on trying to figure out what they were talking about and joined in to play the game. "You're still up Aiden."

"Right. Uh never have I ever… skinny dipped in the Black Lake."

"That was one time!" Al and Scorpius exclaimed at the same time. "And you were the one who dared us to you git," added Scorpius.

"And it was so worth it when we stole your clothes before you got out," Lorcan snickered avoiding Albus' glare. "Your turn Scorp."

"Um, never have I ever… been in love." Around the room, Aiden, Emily, Albus, Fred, and Liz put a finger down and drank from their cups.

"Predictable," commented Louis. "Except you Rosie, no love for your git boyfriend?"

"Don't call him a git Louis," she scowled, though she didn't comment any further on the matter, to which Scorpius smiled slightly. "My turn. Never have I ever…"

* * *

"So was it hard to get then?" Ella asked. She and James were in the kitchen unloading the bottles of firewhiskey and butterbeer from the cases he'd brought.

"Nah. I was having lunch with Demetria Jennings today, you know our captain from last year? Anyways, I mentioned I needed to get it for a party and she offered to do it the legal way. Said she couldn't have Gryffindor losing the Quidditch cup because their captain was suspended or something," he laughed.

"Oh good," she smiled in relief. "Thanks again, I really owe you." He smiled in return and continued taking out bottles.

"By the way, you look really nice."

"Thanks James. I really hope Andrew likes it," she gushed, missing James' grimace.

Wanting to change the subject, he asked, "So what else have you lot been up to today?"

"Not much," Ella replied. "My parents left this morning so we spent most of the day party proofing the place. Then we got ready and were just playing 'never have I ever' when you guys got here."

James laughed. "Oh so that's what that was. And let me guess, they got something embarrassing out of you?"

She blushed. "You could say that," she muttered.

"Go on then, what was it?" James prodded.

"Oh no. Nuh uh, I am _not _telling you. I'm taking it to my grave," Ella stated.

Suddenly arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her close. "Come on El," James breathed in her ear. "Don't make me… tickle it out of you!" He began tickling her as she squirmed in his arms.

"James… no!" she wheezed as she laughed.

"Not until you tell me," he grinned, still attacking her with his hands. Turning around in his arms while still hysterically laughing, she unsuccessfully tried to push him away.

"James… please…" she gasped.

"Ella?"

James stopped tickling her as another voice came from nearby. Gasping to catch her breath, Ella turned to see Liz at the doorway.

"Oh hey Liz, what's up?" she asked, still breathing heavily.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was trying to get upstairs to put my stuff away and I couldn't get up the staircase."

"Oh Merlin I'm sorry, I forgot to add you." James and Liz looked confused. "I put a spell on the stairs to only allow the people who are staying over to go upstairs. I must've forgotten your name in the multitude of Weasleys," she grinned apologetically. "C'mon, I'll go add you. James, I'll be right back."

"And I'll be trying to figure out your secret," he said, grinning at the mocking look she sent him. Ten minutes later she returned to the kitchen. "So a spell to keep people out? Hmm handy, I should learn that for home so Lily and my mum stay out of my stuff," James noted.

"Yeah I figured it would lessen then number of people from the party shagging in our bedrooms," Ella laughed. "But if you need to get someone else up there, let me know."

"Who would I need to take up there?"

"Oh uh, I dunno," Ella stammered. "Maybe a girl or something…"

James chuckled. "No date for me tonight. The girl I fancy is um… sorta unavailable."

Ella raised her eyebrows and scoffed. "Please James, who's unavailable to you? Mr. Gryffindor King? Mr. Star Chaser? I mean come on, you're smart, gorgeous, and wickedly talented on the Quidditch pitch. Who could resist those charms?" she teased, pinching his cheeks in a joking manner.

James rolled his eyes, but his face grew slightly red as soon Ella turned around to throw away the box. "Apparently one girl," he muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, uh nothing. Um I think that's all of the drinks, should we take it out there?"

"Finally," Ella sighed and nodded. "Let's go." They began to carry bottles and cups to the main party room.

* * *

"Never have I ever had sex," Louis declared.

"Yes you have you wanker," Fred tried to smack Louis in the head, but fell over in the attempt, causing Louis to burst out laughing. By this point in the game the two of them had somehow become more drunk than the rest, despite joining in late.

"I know I just wanted to see who had," Louis slurred. Scorpius rolled his eyes in amusement as he put a finger down and looked around the circle. Unsurprisingly, Aiden, Emily, Liz, Fred, Louis, and Lorcan had also put a finger down.

Everyone except Scorpius looked at Al in surprise. "Al?" Rose asked.

"What?" he muttered.

"You and Jill never…?"

Al sighed. "No we didn't. Never felt right I suppose."

"Hmm I always just assumed… Scorp, why don't you look surprised?" Lorcan demanded.

"Because I already knew." He shot a smile at his best friend. Scorpius looked at Rose, who had looked a bit put out momentarily, but as soon as she caught him staring, she looked away.

"Well Rosie, it looks like we're the last ones," Albus said wiggling the one finger he had left.

She grinned. "And it's my turn," she teased. "Knowing most of your secrets will finally come in handy." Albus paled slightly as Rose grinned evilly at him. "Never have I ever had a dirty dream about Mrs. Malfoy."

Albus face drained of color as he groaned and put his face in his hands as Rose smiled and lifted her hands in triumph. Scorpius' eyes widened in horror.

"Bloody hell Al! That's my mum!" complained Scorpius, shuddering at the thought.

"You too, huh?" Lorcan asked Al, causing Scorpius to stare at him in shock. Lorcan grinned at him. "What Scorp? Your mom is hot. Definitely shaggab-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Scamander," Scorpius threatened. Getting up he shot his two friends a dirty look and walked towards the door. "I need a stronger drink," he muttered as the others all laughed at him.

"Mate, in my defense it was like fourth year," Al called out, only to be answered with a rude gesture. He chuckled. "Well that's the game. Rosie wins, albeit through dirty tricks." He nudged her, but Rose shrugged in innocence. "C'mon guys, people will be getting here soon."

Emily jumped on Aiden's back and yelled, "To the party room, boyfriend!" He chuckled and held onto her legs as he carried her out. They entered the other room to find James and Ella playfully arguing.

"Come on, you have to tell me!"

"No James, I don't," she retorted. "Oh hey guys."

"What does she have to tell you?" Lorcan asked, popping an cookie in his mouth.

"What her secret from the game was."

Lorcan grinned evilly. "Oh that. Well see-"

"Lorcan if you want what happened last summer to remain secret, you better shut your mouth," Ella hissed. "And you know what I'm talking about."

Lorcan scowled and shut his mouth promptly.

"Fine," huffed James. "But I will get it out of you eventually." Ella shook her head. The fireplace burst with flames and died down to reveal the rest of the Weasley cousins who were coming. "About time you guys showed up," grinned James.

"Well Jamesy my dear, it takes time to get to this perfection," replied Dominnique, hugging the other girls. Molly and Lucy followed her. "Vic says hi. And to not go too crazy tonight." The others smirked at this as the doorbell rang.

"Ah good, people are here. I'll get it." Ella smiled happily.

As she went to go answer the door, James began pouring out the firewhiskey into shot glasses. Passing the glasses around, he said "Alright kids, bottoms up. It's going to be a long night."

* * *

Two hours later and the party was in full swing. A majority of the sixth and seventh years from Hogwarts were there, with a few fifth years thrown in, totaling no fewer than sixty people.

"Albus!" Albus turned from talking to James and Scorpius to see his date, Cassie, walking towards him. "Hi," she smiled and hugged him.

"Hey," he said. "I'm glad you're here. Did you find the place ok?"

"Yeah, sorry I'm late. Got held up at the shop while closing up."

"No problem," he replied. James nudged him slightly. "Oh sorry, uh Cassie this is my brother James, and my best friend Scorpius."

The two of them smiled and shook hands with her. "Nice to finally put a face to the name," said James. "You look familiar though, do you go to Hogwarts?"

"Uh no. You've probably seen me at Fortescues'. Actually I just moved back here six months ago from Austria. My dad was the English ambassador to their Ministry, and when we moved back my mom just decided to home school me for my seventh year."

"An older woman, eh Al," James teased.

"Shut up James. Cassie, you want a drink?"

She nodded and the two of them left. Staring after them, James said, "So what do you think, enough to get Darcy off his mind tonight?"

"Not by a long shot," sighed Scorpius. It wasn't that Cassie wasn't pretty or nice, but rather Albus was fooling himself if he thought it would be that easy to get over Darcy. "Speak of the devil," he muttered to James, nodding his head towards the other side of the room. Standing against the wall chatting happily with some other sixth years was Darcy. "I better go tell Al, he's trying to avoid her and Davies all night."

"Ok," said James distractedly, his focus now on another couple on the other side of the room. Scorpius left and James scowled as he watched Andrew Turner whisper something in Ella's ear which made her laugh. "Fuck, I definitely need something stronger than this," he muttered to himself, finishing his drink quickly.

At the drinks table, Al poured some firewhiskey into a glass. Turning he saw Rose and Zach talking to his date, happy that Rose had taken to Cassie easily.

"Just thought you should know…" Scorpius trailed off as he approached his best friend. His eyes narrowed as he noticed Zach standing with Rose, his hand on the small of her back moving in small circles, as she chatted with Cassie. It seemed that whatever disagreement the couple had been having had been resolved.

"Scor?" Al looked confused.

"Right, um sorry. Darcy's here," said Scorpius.

Albus looked around quickly. "Where?"

Scorpius turned to point out where she had been only to find that she wasn't standing there anymore. "I swear she was just right-"

"Hey guys." The two boys froze and slowly turned around to see a smiling Darcy. She was dressed in a strapless purple dress that highlighted her eyes beautifully. Her hair was a bit straighter than usual and fell in tresses around her shoulders evenly.

"Darcy, h-hi," stammered Albus. "Glad you could come."

"Me too. How was your Christmas Al?"

"Pretty good. Um my cousin got engaged so that was cool. Anything else Scorp?" Scorpius shook his head, trying to figure out how best to help Al out of this situation. Luckily for him, a distraction came their way. Unluckily for them, it was in the form of Darcy's boyfriend.

"Potter, Malfoy," Callum greeted them cordially as he came over. "Darcy, I thought you were getting us drinks?"

"Sorry, I got caught up talking to Albus and Scorpius."

"No problem, I'll get them. Although I think Phoebe was wondering where you went. Says she's having some sort of crisis. Something about Todd Jenkins coming here with another girl?"

"Right, I better go talk to her," Darcy sighed. "I'll see you guys later?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

Al smiled noncommittally and she left. Albus sighed and whispered, "Well so far I'm doing a shit job at avoiding her."

"It'll get easier, mate. She was bound to want to at least say hi to you. Now you can avoid her for the rest of the night. C'mon, let's get you back to your date," Scorpius said. Unfortunately before they could leave, Callum returned from getting drinks and decided to strike up a chat about Quidditch. After ten minutes of discussing how good the Falcons' chances were against the Harpies the next weekend, and not noticing Al's subtle looks of annoyance, relief came in the most unlikely form.

"Callum, there you are! I've been looking for you." Lauren Montague sauntered up to the three boys. "Oh hey Scor. Al. Great party," she purred, winking at them both.

"Thanks Lauren," Scorpius replied. Desperate to escape her flirtations, he quickly added, "Sorry but we've really got to be getting back to Al's date. Have a good time." He and Al quickly left, leaving the two Ravenclaws looking a bit confused.

"Fucking Ravenclaws, I swear," muttered Scorpius, earning a laugh from his friend as he steered them through the crowd.

* * *

"Zach, where are we going?" Rose asked, smiling as her boyfriend pulled her along the hallway.

"You'll see," he called back teasingly. She gave up trying to figure it out, and let him steer her down the hallway and into a small study, stumbling slightly from the alcohol she'd had . Once inside, he pulled her to him and kissed her. Rose made small sound of surprise, but melted into the kiss soon enough. Turning her around, he lifted her so that she was sitting on the desk as she linked her hands behind his neck. As he began to trail kisses across her jaw she sighed happily.

Before the party, things had been a little tense between them ever since she'd said she wasn't ready to meet his parents. But as soon as he'd arrived, he'd taken her aside and apologized, saying that it'd been wrong of him to be mad at her for the way she felt. After that things had been much better, and they'd been able to have fun. She'd even managed to avoid Lauren Montague for most of the evening, only seeing her talking to Callum Davies a few times. For the most part, she and Zach had been talking to Albus' date Cassie, until Zach had asked to talk to her privately, which had led them to their current situation.

"Zach," she breathed as he lightly sucked on her neck. "We… should… get back… to… the party."

"Mmm soon babe," he mumbled, kissing back up her neck. She sighed as his mouth made its way back to hers and she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Everything was going fine, until his hands slowly started to creep under her dress and she turned her head away.

"Zach, stop," she admonished softly. He didn't hear her as he continued to kiss her neck and slip his hands under her dress.

"Zach, seriously. Stop," she scolded him, pushing him off her.

He groaned. "Sorry, sorry."

She nodded as she straightened out her dress a bit. "It's fine. I'm just… I'm still not ready for _that_."

"I know, I'm sorry Rosie. I swear I didn't bring you here for that, I just got a little carried away," he mumbled.

"It's ok," she said quietly, and reached up to kiss him softly on the lips. "Come on, we'd better go back. We left most of your team alone with Dominique. Who knows what her Veela charms have done to those poor boys by now." Zach chuckled softly as Rose hopped down from the desk and straightened out her dress.

"Rose?" She turned around to face him. "I was just… well I was wondering when you think you will be ready?" She took a deep breath and hesitated. "I mean I don't want to push you, please don't think that, it's just… I feel like we don't communicate this kind of stuff very well, and I don't want you to think that that's all I want."

She smiled slightly before walking over to him and putting her arms around his neck. "I don't know, Zach. I mean I don't think it's a 'when' thing. I just… when I know, I'll know I guess. But believe me, when I'm ready, you'll be the first to know," she grinned at him, and he smiled in response, leaning his forehead against hers. "Now c'mon. I'm sobering up, and that is just absolutely not allowed." She grinned at him wickedly and took his hand to lead him out of the study and back to the party.

* * *

"Scorpius?"

Scorpius jumped and whirled around to find Lucy staring at him strangely. "Merlin Lucy, you scared the pants off of me."

"What on earth are you doing? Why are you hiding behind that plant?"

He beckoned for her to come closer, so she approached him and crouched down. "Ava's here. She just cornered me in the kitchen and tried to maul me." Lucy stared at him for ten seconds before breaking down in laughter. "It's not funny! The girl is bloody insane, and she attacked me!"

"When you say 'maul you' you, you mean…?"

"I mean she grabbed me, pulled me to her and started snogging the living daylights out of me. I barely made it out of there with my pants on!"

Lucy held a straight face for as long as she could before breaking down in giggles again and clutching Scorpius as she could barely breathe. "Oh my Merlin, wait until the others hear about this." She got up and headed towards Dominique and Molly, who were talking to Aiden and some of his housemates.

"Some help you are Weasley!" he hissed after her, ducking his head once more and crouching behind the plant to keep an eye out.

A few minutes later, Aiden walked over to him. "So I hear you were attacked?" he asked, barely suppressing an amused grin.

"Oh shut up. So you were right. Merlin all I was doing was refilling some snacks, and she snuck up behind me."

"Didn't she come here with a date though?"

"Yeah, Todd something-or-the-other. She said she was just trying to make me jealous. Doesn't matter though, I saw him snogging Phoebe Ackerly like half an hour ago. Anyways, when I told her it wasn't working, she jumped me and started snogging me. Merlin, why did I get the crazy ex?" He scanned the room warily.

"Well I'm pretty sure as long as you don't react to her or give in to her, this phase should pass soon. The only reason it got Lorcan was because he kept giving in to it."

"What about me?" Lorcan asked, passing by them with his date, Jenny Martin. "Jenny love, I'll be right there." She nodded and continued towards her friends.

"Remember when you broke up with Liza?"

"Oh god, she was a nutter."

Aiden continued. "Well first she went through that anger phase. Then after that she started trying to snog you everywhere, right?"

"Oh yeah. That bird was confusing. One minute she was sending hexes at me, the next she was pulling me into broom cupboards. It was mental."

"Right, but you gave into to it. So how long did it last?" Scorpius asked.

"I gave into it like the first few times, but after that she expected us to be in a relationship again. When I told her we weren't, she went right back to the anger part," Lorcan sighed heavily, shaking his head. "But what does this have to do with anything?

Scorpius groaned. "Ava's doing the same thing. She just tried to snog me in the kitchen."

Lorcan snorted but managed to keep a relatively straight face. "Yeah mate, I'd say don't give in to it. Just keep ignoring her as much as possible."

"Easier said than done," Scorpius snapped. "She's tiny and sneaks up on you when you least expect it."

"Scor Scor!" His head snapped around to find Ava making her way over towards him from the other side of the room.

"Fuck it. I'm out. Fucking Ravenclaws."

"Hey!"

"Except you two," Scorpius called out as he practically ran the other way and disappeared through the crowds.

"Wasn't Scor Scor just here?" Ava reached Lorcan and Aiden who were trying as hard as possible to keep their faces straight at Ava's nickname.

"Yeah, uh he said he had to go do something… outside," Aiden said, while Lorcan muffled his laughter by clapping a hand over his mouth.

Ava looked at them weirdly. "Right, ok well if you see him, tell him I'm looking for him?"

"Sure," Aiden sarcastically replied, though Ava didn't seem to notice as she walked away.

Lorcan and Aiden looked at each other before collapsing into a fit of laughter.

* * *

Emily wandered down the hall towards the kitchen with a plate in her hands. Reaching the room, she flipped on the light switch to find Al sitting at the table by himself with a bottle of firewhiskey in front of him. "Al? Why are you in the dark?"

"Oh, hey Em. Um no reason, just wanted to be alone for a bit I suppose. Want a drink?" She nodded and went to sit by him as he poured and handed her a drink. She accepted and took a sip out of it, sitting in silence for a bit.

"So, who are you trying to avoid?"

Al looked up in surprise. "What makes you think I'm trying to avoid someone?"

She smirked. "Well for one thing, you have a perfectly cute date waiting for you, yet you're here. And also I just know you. Albus Potter would never leave a party unless he's trying to avoid someone." Albus lifted an eyebrow. "Ok, ok so there are plenty of other reasons you might leave a party. But still, I'm right, aren't I?"

He nodded carefully and took a deep breath before answering. "I thought it would be easier, you know? Once I'd accepted that I needed to move on, I'd be able to do it." Emily nodded. She knew who this was about without needing a name mentioned. "I just… it's just a lot harder than I thought it would be. And I don't know what to do." Albus sighed and laid his head down on the table.

Emily reach across the table to grab his hand. "Albus, look at me." He slowly lifted his head to look at her, his eyes looking weary. "I know that this is hard. But I also know that you're going to get through it. You're strong and you can do this." Albus nodded, not seeming very convinced though. Emily looked at him thoughtfully before speaking again. "Do you want to get over her?"

Albus' head snapped up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… Look I know you said that you want to move on, but it seems like you're making it harder on yourself than necessary." Albus still looked confused, so she pushed on. "You don't _have _to immediately jump into anything with anyone else, and you don't _have _change your feelings for her so drastically. If anything, trying to avoid her is making you think of her more."

He paused before answering. "So… you think that in trying to get over her, I'm what? Subconsciously thinking about her even more?"

Emily looked hesitantly at him before shifting her eyes downwards. "Maybe?" she shrugged.

Albus took a deep breathe and looked down at the table for a few moments before replying. "You're right." Emily's head slowly lifted up. "In trying to avoid her, I'm thinking about her even more and the reason for having to avoid her. Damn it all to hell, I just can't escape this."

Emily looked at him sympathetically. "I think you're best bet is to just let it happen naturally. Don't actively try to avoid her, but also don't seek her out. Does that make sense?"

Albus nodded and they lapsed back into silence for a few moments. Taking a sip from his cup, he spoke again. "So have you solved things with Aiden?"

Emily looked at him in surprise. "He told you guys about that?"

Albus nodded. "Alright, give it to me straight. Why are you avoiding talking about the future with him?"

She paused. "It's… complicated."

"No, it really isn't." Emily glared at him. "What? You gave me the harsh truth, now it's your turn. Fess up Em, what's the deal?"

She sighed and thought for a few moments before answering. "Look first of all, of course I see a future with him. He's all I'm sure of. But… I don't want him to be disappointed if we plan out everything and then it doesn't go that way." Al looked a little confused, so she carried on. "He wants to play Quidditch and I want to work in the Department of Mysteries. He's going to be traveling a lot, and being an Unspeakable demands a lot of hours at the Ministry. I don't want our relationship to hold him back from his dreams. What if we plan to get married soon after graduating, and then have to be apart for our first few years of marriage? What if we have kids, and they end up being raised by our parents or nannies because we're never around? That's not something I want. I'm not saying that I want to break up with him at the end of school, but I don't want to make and break plans. It just doesn't make sense to me."

"Have you told him that?"

Emily laughed. "Have you ever tried confronting that idiot with anything? He bolts fasted than you can say 'Quidditch'." Al smirked and nodded. "I'm gonna talk to him tonight though. This is getting resolved."

"Thank Merlin for that. We can't all be having drama," Al teased.

At that moment, Scorpius burst into the kitchen and dove under the table, pulling at Emily's legs to cover him. "Hide me!" he hissed. Al and Emily stared at him in confusion.

"Have any of you seen Scor Scor? I thought I saw him come down here." They turned around to find Ava in the doorway.

Albus rolled his eyes while Emily answered. "Nope, he's not here. Last I saw him, he was outside."

Ava huffed. "That's what Aiden said too. But I looked and he wasn't there. And it's freezing."

"Maybe you should take a hint," muttered Al.

"What?" Ava asked sharply, her eyes flaring.

Scorpius punched Al's leg under the table. "Uh, I said these grounds are really big. You should keep trying."

Ava looked at him suspiciously before nodding and turning to leave. Al rolled his eyes again while helping Scorpius up from under the table. "So it's not just Aiden who's bad with confrontation."

Scorpius glared at him. "Don't start. I'm fine with confrontation. What I'm _not _fine with is being jumped."

Al burst out laughing. "So I take it Aiden was right? She tried to snog you?"

"Did she ever," groaned Scorpius. "Give me that bottle." He grabbed the firewhiskey bottle, not even bothering with a glass.

After a few gulps, Emily stopped him. "Ok big boy, let's just put that down and not get totally trashed tonight," Emily said, taking the bottle from him. "C'mon we'd better get back up there. You can get lost in the crowd to avoid Ava," she chuckled.

The three of them left the kitchen and walked down the long hall leading back to the main rooms. However before they reached the main hall, they heard a familiar voice yell, "WHAT THE HELL?!" from the door on their right. Rushing in, they found Ella and James staring at a couple against the bookshelf. On closer look, it was Andrew Turner and Amy Peakes, looking extremely disheveled and flushed.

* * *

Ella was having a great night. The party was going well, there had been no big incidents (that she knew of), and she'd spent most of the night with Andrew, talking and drinking with his friends and just spending time together. However at some point, she couldn't remember exactly when, she'd lost him. Currently she was talking to Albus' date, Rose, and Darcy Wood, and the last time she'd seen him, he'd said he was going to get them drinks.

"…yeah so my mum decided it would be better to home school me since the schooling in Austria was a bit different. But I sort of miss going to school with other people. So you and Rose have been friends since first year?" Cassie asked. Ella nodded a bit distractedly, her eyes wandering to see if she could spot Andrew.

"Ella?" Rose prodded.

Her head snapped back towards the other two girls. "Oh god, I'm so sorry. I was just looking for Andrew. I haven't seen him in a while."

"Oh I think I saw him go down the hall, that way," Darcy pointed.

"Thanks, I'll just see where he's gone off to." She left the three girls and headed for the hall. On her way out of the room, however, she bumped into James, spilling her drink on him. "Merlin, I'm so sorry James."

"It's no problem," he replied, trying to wipe the stain.

"No it is, I'm so clumsy. Do you have a change of clothes?"

He shook his head. "I was just going to wear this again tomorrow when going home."

"Well I don't think either of us should try any wand work now, so come on then, I'll get you something of Aiden's to wear." He followed her up the stairs and into Aiden's room where Ella began rummaging through the closet.

"Really Ella, I don't need a change. It's fine."

"James I spilled firewhiskey on your white shirt. There's a huge colored stain. Ah here we go." She came out of the closet holding a light brown dress shirt. "This matches perfectly with your eyes."

James raised his eyebrows and began taking off his shirt. Ella eyes widened slightly and she turned. He chuckled. "Ella, it's not like you've never seen me shirtless." She blushed furiously. "Alright I'm done, we can go now."

As they walked back downstairs, she asked, "Have you seen Andrew? I can't find him."

He looked a bit disgruntled, but answered her anyways. "Um yeah, I thought I saw him go down the hall." He beckoned for her to follow. They walked down the hall, Ella slightly stumbling from a combination of her heels and drinking. Finally after the third stumble, James stuck his arm out which she graciously took.

"So is that unavailable girl you like here tonight?" she asked.

James smirked. "I dunno if I should tell you. I mean you didn't tell me your secret."

"Oh come on, that is so not the same thing-" She was cut of by a girlish squeal from the door to the right. Rolling her eyes, she groaned. "I specifically told people that these rooms were off limits for hooking up. I've already had to tell two couples to take it somewhere else." Stomping over to the door she pushed it open and entered the room with James close behind her. "Alright you two, break it- Andrew?"

Andrew sprang backwards, pants unbuttoned and shirt half open, and paled. Beside him, Amy Peakes was trying to pull down her dress. "Ella-"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Ella yelled. Behind her, Emily, Al, and Scorpius burst into the room to see what the commotion was about. "Seriously? At my own party?!"

"Ella, I can explain-"

"No! Don't bother you bloody tosser. Whatever this was, between us, it's done. Now get the fuck out of my house and away from me." Not waiting to hear his response, she turned and marched out of the room.

"She shouldn't be alone. I'll go find her." Emily said softly, staring at where her friend had left.

"No, I'll go. I think I know where she's headed. You guys take care of this," James said, glaring at Andrew before walking out of the room.

The other three nodded and turned back to Andrew, who had evidently been left alone by Amy. "Get your stuff and get out before I punch you so hard that your grandchildren will feel it," growled Scorpius. Andrew narrowed his eyes slightly before buttoning his shirt and moving out the door. "Fucking Ravenclaws," muttered Scorpius darkly. "Let's go. We'd better find the others and tell them what happened."

* * *

Luckily for Albus, Scorpius, and Emily, Aiden and Rose were together when they found them. Unluckily, they were chatting with a group of Ravenclaws, including Rose's boyfriend and some of Andrew's friends. Lorcan was nowhere to be found, so the three made their way over to Rose and Aiden in order to inform them of what had happened in the study.

"Rose," Emily tapped on her friend's shoulder while Scorpius and Al went over to Aiden.

Rose turned around and smiled. "Hey Em, what's up? I haven't seen you all night!"

"Uh well there was sort of a… situation."

Rose looked confused. "Situation? Uh you're gonna have to elaborate a bit."

"Well we sort of found Andrew-"

"HE WHAT?!" Emily was cut off by her boyfriend's furious voice. "Where the fuck is he?!" Aiden was looking around wildly while Albus tried to calm him down and explain things. Scorpius on the other hand seemed to be on the same page as Aiden.

"What happened?" Rose asked, walking with Emily towards the boys. Zach trailed behind her.

"When I get my hands on that son of a bitch I'm gonna-"

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?!" Rose cried, throwing her hands in the air.

Emily sighed. "Ella caught Andrew hooking up with Amy Peakes."

Rose and Zach's eyes widened. "What?" she whispered. Emily just nodded. Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Are you sure?" Zach asked disbelievingly. "I mean that doesn't seem like the kind of thing Andrew would do."

The five of them turned towards Zach, each with different looks on their face. "We saw him with our own eyes," Scorpius said, with thinly veiled loathing. "And unless all five of us mistook what we saw, they were definitely hooking up."

"Merlin I just asking. No need to get your knickers in a twist Malfoy."

"Why you little-" Scorpius started on Zach, but was held back by Albus.

"Mate calm down. You're angry at Turner and you're taking it out on him," Albus reasoned. Scorpius took a deep breath before muttering an insincere apology to Zach and stalking off to try and find Lorcan.

"So where is she?" Rose asked.

"I dunno," Emily answered. "She took off after yelling at Andrew, and James went after her. Said he probably knew where she was going. Then we kicked Andrew out and came to tell you."

"Right well we'd better-"

"Weasley!" Rose was interrupted by a voice shouting her name. She turned around to find Ava Goldstein stomping towards her looking angry.

"Ava I really don't have time for you right now."

"Well maybe you should have thought of that before you stole my boyfriend you bitch!"

Rose exchanged confused looks with Emily. Behind her, Zach was looking more and more unhappy by the minute. "What the hell are you on about?" Rose asked.

"You. Stole. Scorpius. Don't even try and deny it, I've seen the way he looks at you!" Ava was practically hysterical now. "The way he always teases you and jokes around with you." Rose kept looking confused, so Ava carried on. "I'm right aren't I? He dumped me for you! You can't have all the guys, so you need to back off-"

"Ok stop!" Rose hissed. "Seriously Ava I don't have time for whatever delusions you're spewing out. Your slag of a friend just hooked up with my best friend's date. So just turn around and walk away, because I am _not _in the mood right now." The two girls glared at each other for a few moments before Ava finally backed off.

"This isn't over Weasley," she snapped. Turning away she pushed her way through the crowd towards the front doors to leave.

"Merlin what the bloody hell was she on about?" Rose grumbled. Before Emily or Zach could say anything though, she said, "Whatever, I don't care. We need to go find Ella."

"Actually I think it'd be better if we just left this one to James," Emily reasoned. "She didn't really seem in the mood to talk, and I think she just wants to be alone for a while." Rose looked like she was about to argue so Emily quickly said, "If she's not back soon, we'll go find her." Rose sighed and nodded. "C'mon, let's go get another drink. Merlin knows you need one after that spectacle."

* * *

"What are you doing up here?"

Startled out of her thoughts, Ella wiped her eyes and looked down to see James climbing up the tree she was sitting in.

"How'd you know where I was?"

James reach the branch Ella was on, and maneuvered his way around her to sit next to her. "You tend to like high places when you're mad." Ella quirked an eyebrow. "Ok and I saw your shoes at the base of the tree. But I am right about the high places thing. Remember the summer before your fifth year? When you were at the Burrow with us, and Al made fun of you for falling off your broom. You got so mad at him, and ran out of the house. I found you in the apple tree thirty minutes later. And then a few months ago, after you got that Acceptable on your Charms essay? You were out sitting on the Quidditch stands for like three hours."

Ella stare at him in surprise. "You remember that?"

"Of course," he replied simply, as though the events had happened just yesterday. "So what's got you out here this time?"

Scoffing, she said, "Did you not just witness what just happened in there?"

"No, I did. I was just wondering what you're crying about."

"Are you serious, James? The guy I was kind of dating was basically shagging another girl. At _my_ party. I think I have the right to be this upset." Ella practically snarled.

James held up his hands. "Ella, I've known you for six years now. I've seen you hex, curse, and punch guys for being jerks before, but never have I once seen you cry over one. Especially a prat like Turner. What's really wrong?"

Ella's glare softened. She sighed and slumped back against the tree trunk. "You're right. I mean I am upset about him, but it's not the whole reason.

James looked at her, silently encouraging her to continue.

After a few moments of silence, Ella closed her eyes and just let everything out. "My dad cheated on my mom."

She opened her eyes to see James staring at her, wide eyed and speechless.

"Ella, I ," he hesitated. "Oh god, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she scoffed, "It's not like you're the bitch who kissed my dad."

James surprised face melted into a mask of concern.

"I mean he didn't shag her, so there's that," Ella continued, "but that doesn't change the fact that he _cheated_."

"Is that why you've been so angry recently?"

Ella stared at him. "What?"

"Well at the last Quidditch practice you were hitting bludgers at all the guys on the team."

"So?"

"Ella, you're a _chaser_. You stole the bat from Fred, and proceeded to try to, in your words, 'show him how to play the damn sport.'"

"Ok ok, so I've been a little angry. But that was only when I knew they were having problems. I found out about the kiss last week, before I saw you in Diagon Alley. Anyways, that's why my parents are in Greece now. Trying to 'reconnect' or some other bullshit."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"I just… No, I haven't. Aiden is having his own relationship issues, he don't need this on top of it. Rose is always so busy with prefect duties or schoolwork and has her own relationship problems, so I don't want to bother her. And Lorcan just wouldn't understand. He'd try to cheer me up, but I don't want to cheer up. I just want my family to be ok," she finished, letting out a sob. Tears began to slowly fall down her face.

James sighed. There was nothing he could really say to make her feel better. So instead he beckoned for her to come closer. Ella looked at him in question, before scooting over next to him on the branch. James maneuvered her head onto his shoulder, resting his head on top of hers, and put both his arms around her. She in turn wrapped her arms around his waist. "Just let it all out."

They sat there for a while, James stroking her hair and Ella crying. After about twenty minutes, her sobs started to lessen. James patted her back soothingly as she pushed her head into the crook of his neck, her breathing steadying out.

"It'll all be ok, Ella. I promise," he said quietly.

She shook her head slightly, still resting her head in the crook of his neck. "How do you know?"

"I just do," he murmured.

After another five minutes, Ella lifted her head and wiped her face. Giving James a sad smile, she hugged him properly. "Thanks. I really needed that."

James nodded his head, smiling back at her. "Sometimes you don't need people to cheer you up or try and cheer you up. Sometimes you just need a good cry."

"Ugh, my make up is all smeared," she said, looking to see black on her palms. "I must look awful."

James shook his head, and said softly, "You look beautiful."

Ella gave a small laugh. "Yeah right, but thanks anyway." She shivered slightly, so James took off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Suddenly they heard cheering from the direction of the house. Looking at his watch, James saw that it was 11:59. "One minute until the new year," he murmured.

Ella let out a sigh and tugged his jacket closer around her. "I think any hope for a New Years kiss at midnight went out the window, along with Amy's class," she said, causing James to laugh.

From the house they heard shouts of people counting down.

"TEN! NINE! EIGHT!"

James turned to Ella and smiled.

"SEVEN! SIX! FIVE!"

"Come here," he said quietly.

Ella shot him a questioning look. He just smiled at her, so she moved back towards him.

"FOUR! THREE!"

Moving until their faces were about a foot apart, James put his hand on her cheek. Ella looked up to see his warm hazel eyes staring at her own.

"TWO!"

Leaning in, James whispered, "Happy New Years Ella."

"ONE! HAPPY NEW YEARS!"

Ella closed her eyes just as James' lips pressed against her own. The kiss was simple and chaste, yet perfect. She could feel her stomach slightly stirring with some new emotion that she couldn't make out. It lasted mere seconds before he pulled back. Opening her eyes, she saw him smiling at her.

"I couldn't let the tradition get ruined," he said softly.

Ella let out a small laugh. "No, I suppose you couldn't."

"Come on, we better get back inside or we'll both freeze to death."

"Actually, can we just stay out here for a bit longer?"

James smiled. "Sure."

* * *

Rose woke up the morning of January 1st to sunlight streaming in through the window and directly onto her face. Groaning, she turned over, trying to go back to sleep. However, before she could, she was startled by deep breaths emanating from beside her. Yanking the covers off her unknown companion, she found Scorpius sleeping soundly beside her.

"Ferret!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

Groaning, Scorpius blindly reached around for the blanket. "Rose will you please lower the volume? My head is pounding."

"I will if you tell me why you're in my bed!"

"Rose! Volume!" he snapped, still searching for the comforter with closed eyes.

"Scorpius! Explain!" she retorted.

Sighing, Scorpius slowly opened his eyes to find Rose clutching the blankets around her looking extremely confused. "Right, sorry. I was, uh, kicked out of my room last night. Lorcan managed to get Jenny upstairs. And every other room had two people in it except this one.

"Yeah Molly went back home-"

"And I swear, I slept on the floor at first-"

"Scor-"

"-but it was really cold last night and-"

"Scor! It's fine. Really, it is," she repeated, seeing his doubtful look. "I was just a little shocked. The end of last night is a bit fuzzy."

"Yeah me too. Oi open the drawer next to you? I put hangover potions in all the rooms yesterday."

"Oh thank god." Reaching over to the drawer she took out two vials and handed one to Scorpius. "Cheers." They both downed the potion in one go, shuddering afterwards from the awful taste. "I'd better go check on Ella. I didn't get to talk to her after… well you know." After midnight had passed, the gang had waited about an hour until finally Ella and James had come back. Wordlessly Ella went upstairs, and James told them all that she was fine and just wanted to be alone. After sending everyone home, they'd all turned in for the night.

"Yeah sure, let's go then," Scorpius yawned, slowly getting out of bed. They left the room and ambled down the hall towards Ella's room. Opening the door, they found her curled under her blankets.

"Ella?"

"Yeah?" came her muffled voice.

"Are you ok?"

Ella shook her head, then turned over and patted her bed for them to come and sit. Rose and Scorpius went around and took the opposite sides of her, getting under the blankets. Rose wrapped her arms around her best friend and let Ella rest her head on her shoulder. "I suppose I've been better."

"He's a jerk, and when we get back to Hogwarts you can bet I'll make sure everyone knows it." Ella's laugh was muffled by the blankets.

"And I'll get Roxanne to pound Bludgers at him relentlessly in our next game against Ravenclaw. Hell I bet we can even convince Aiden to hit him with Bludgers," Scorpius added.

"They're on the same team," Ella laughed.

"Your point?"

Ella smiled and moved over to hug Scorpius too. "Thanks, you guys are the best. But I think I've given up on men for a bit now."

"Famous last words," teased Rose, but she continued to stroke her best friend's hair gently. A few minutes later the door opened to reveal Aiden and Emily standing in the doorway.

"He's an ass," Aiden said without pause, walking over to the bed. He climbed over Scorpius to squeeze in between them and hugged his sister. "You can bet that prat will get hit with tons of Bludgers at our next practice." Ella laughed into his neck and Emily joined them all, sitting next to Rose. Lorcan came in ten minutes later, promising to rearrange Andrew's face once they got back to Hogwarts.

They sat like that for a while before Ella declared they had to clean up the house before her parents got back. Going to wake up everyone else, they made their way downstairs for some breakfast before cleaning up the manor. Luckily for them, it wasn't too hard because at some point in the morning, the Zabini's house elf had taken it upon herself to clean up most of the mess.

"Pokey, you really didn't have to do that!" Ella cried.

"Tis' no problem miss," Pokey said shyly, accepting a hug from Ella.

The kids all thoroughly thanked the house elf before going to retrieve the valuables they'd stored away and putting them all back in place. By noon, the manor looked just as it had before the party.

"We might actually get away with this," Aiden reflected.

"We'll see. The true test is when mom gets back tonight. Nothing gets past her interior decorating eyes."

The others nodded and began saying their goodbyes after Rose noted that they'd better get home before their parents found out they weren't at Teddy's or Molly's places.

"We'll see you tomorrow, on the train back, ok?" Rose said, hugging Ella. She stepped into the fireplace and was followed by the rest of the Weasley cousins and Scorpius. Only James lagged behind after a significant look from Ella. Aiden and Emily left to get her things from upstairs, leaving Ella and James by themselves.

"James I- I just want to thank you. For last night. It was exactly what I needed," Ella said.

He smiled. "Your welcome. You know you can always talk to me, right?"

She smiled and nodded, then stepped forward to hug him. "You're a really good friend. Thanks for everything." He gave her a small smile before stepping in the fireplace to floo back home. After he'd left, Ella turned around to go back upstairs. She had to admit, despite the incident with Andrew, the party had been pretty successful. _Going back to school is going to be very interesting _she thought to herself.

* * *

**Wow lots going on in this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Some of the school/relationships drama is beginning to unfold a bit more, and more of that will come soon enough. I've got the next chapter half planned out, so hopefully it will be coming soon! I'm hoping to get at least 10 reviews (I know it's weird asking for reviews but hey, they make me feel good and like you guys enjoy the story ;D), and as you know reviews make me write a bit faster ;). So please review and tell me what you like/dislike. I can't promise you that I'll change the story accordingly, but I LOVE hearing your feedback!**

**Next up: The kids go back to school**

**xoxo Tara**


	6. The First Week Back

**AN: Well, look what the cat dragged in. Yes, I'm not dead, just the worst updater ever. I'll take this time to apologize profusely and beg your forgiveness with the longest chapter I've written so far. It was 37 pages on Word and 15k+ words long, and that was edited DOWN. Let's just say, there's a lot going on ;). Also as another apology for making you guys wait so long, I've added in a little fluffyness for every ship (well the well-liked ships) in this chapter. So enjoy!**

**A little recap: Scorpius and Rose decide to be on better terms with each other. Albus is trying to get over his long time crush Darcy. Aiden and Emily had a minor spat (or major, however you want to classify it) and haven't fully made up over it yet. Ella was cheated on by Andrew Turner at her New Years party, but was comforted by James afterwards leading up to a friendly (?) kiss. And Lorcan is still Lorcan ;).**

**Also I believe someone said in a review that it was a tad hard to keep up with the characters, and how they're related (I don't blame you), so i made up a little cheat sheet for you guys to refer to which is on my profile.**

**Last thing, this is still not being beta'd by anyone, so any grammar/editing mistakes are on me.**

**Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been J.K. Rowling. **

* * *

**January 2nd, Monday afternoon**

Ella stared out the window of the Hogwarts Express, watching the surroundings as they went by, oblivious to everything else going on in her compartment. With her were Emily, Aiden, Albus and Scorpius. Lorcan had long disappeared with Jenny Martin, and Rose was currently doing prefect rounds along the train. They'd been traveling for about four hours now, halfway through the trip, and Emily was just now enlightening Scorpius on his ex-girlfriend's actions at the Zabini's party.

"You're not serious," Scorpius groaned as he stared at Emily incredulously, hoping that she would burst out laughing and tell him all it was a prank. Both Albus and Aiden had entertained looks on their faces, also having missed the showdown between Ava and Rose. "Merlin, how the hell did I not see how mental she was when we first started dating?" he muttered.

"S'not your fault Scorp," Al answered. "They hide it well."

"We are not all like that Albus Potter," Emily scolded, whacking his arm repeatedly from her seat beside him. He grinned as he tried to fend her off. "Aiden, tell him we're not all like that!"

"Yes dear," Aiden replied.

"Oh shut up."

"Yes dear."

"Ella, help me defend our gender!" Emily glanced over to where Ella sat by the window, still staring out of it and not seeming to hear anything they'd said. The others exchanged worried glances, but decided to leave her be.

"I dunno Em, if Ava is any indication, you don't have much to go on," Scorpius said.

"Ok first of all, you're the only one who couldn't see her crazy side from the beginning Scorp," Emily replied, turning back towards him. "To be honest I was surprised when you two started dating because in the past you've dated relatively normal girls, and she's always seemed high maintenance." Scorpius nodded in a agreement. "But anyways, you're well shot of her. And I think Rose pretty much out-argued her, so you're probably safe. Well, for now."

At that moment, Rose opened the carriage door and came in. "Speak of the devil," Scorpius said. She raised her eyebrows and he quickly added, "It's a muggle phrase." Nodding, she took the seat next to him and collapsed down with a sigh.

"Merlin, patrols were such a nightmare. I must've broken up three different duels, not to mention I had to confisate Louis and Freddie's left over supply of fireworks. Those idiots were trying to sell them to fourth years. I swear I'm going to write to Aunt Angelina and Aunt Fleur. Maybe they'll get sent howlers," Rose mused.

"That's just cruel, woman. Where was your partner during all of this?" Aiden asked.

"We decided to split up to cover more area. But I have no doubt he was probably off snogging his girlfriend in an empty compartment because I didn't see him patrolling once," Rose replied, scathingly, the three boys grinning as Emily looked at her sympathetically. "Anyways I don't have to deal with him anymore. We have a prefect's meeting tonight, and we'll be assigned new partners."

"Oh god, I forgot about that," Scorpius groaned. "What are the chances that I won't be paired with Lauren? She was hinting at wanting to be my partner at the party," he shuddered.

"I dunno, I suppose you'll have to take it up with Finnigan or O'Connor. Maybe if we're lucky they'll pair us together," she said, and he smiled.

The others exchanged confused glances, before turning to look strangely at their friends. Finally Albus asked the question they were all thinking. "Okay, what is going on? You two want to be paired together?"

Rose and Scorpius turned to face him at the same time. "Well I mean-" "I just-" they began at the same time, before stopping to let the other continue. Scorpius waved his hands towards her as if gesturing for her to speak. "Ferret and I have decided to get along better. Plus it's not like we hated each other before."

"We know you didn't hate each other, but why is this happening now?" Aiden asked.

"We're likely to be Heads next year, and it'd be easier if we weren't arguing all the time. Plus we can work together just fine. Rose and I study in the library together all the time, and that always works out okay," Scorpius argued back, feeling the need to defend Rose and himself.

"Bollocks," replied Albus. "Most of the times you studied together, one of us was there with you. And even then you'd argue over the things we were learning. And who says you're going to be Heads?"

"That's just how we communicate," Rose interjected, ignoring the last part. "And it works fine for us. We've just decided to be less... hostile about it." Scorpius nodded.

"Well I'm not gonna pretend like I'm not happy about this. It's about time you two started getting along better," Albus said, leaning back into his seat. "Less fights for me to break up."

"Hmm I didn't think about that at all. Say Rose, maybe we should resume our fights just to piss off Al," Scorpius said, grinning wickedly at his best friend.

Rose just rolled her eyes while smiling. She pulled out a book that she'd started over the holidays, while Scorpius and Albus began discussing what the Quidditch schedule was going to be like for the year, and Aiden and Emily sat whispering to each other. A few minutes later, Aiden and Emily excused themselves, and left, presumably to find their own compartment for a while.

"This whole schedule is messed up from that cancelled game," groaned Albus. "I don't understand why McG didn't just let the match continue."

"Al, don't call her McG," Rose admonished.

"Al, there was a freak electrical storm. Turner got struck by lightening! And JD almost did too! Minnie had to cancel the match," Scorpius replied.

"Don't call her Minnie!" Both boys ignored her.

"I still say they could've carried on. I mean that's just a chaser and a beater down on opposing sides. They could've still played, right Ella?" Ella continued staring out of the window, as though she didn't hear Albus at all. "Ella?" When she didn't answer, Albus motioned his head for Rose to get her attention.

Rose got up and crossed over to sit next to Albus, and across from Ella. "El, are you ok?" she asked, gently prodding at her friend's leg.

Ella snapped out of her trance. "Sorry, what? Did you ask something?"

"Ella you've been zoned out for the entire trip. Are you ok?" Scorpius asked from beside her.

"Oh, I'm sorry guys. It's not on purpose, I swear, I'm just a little preoccupied."

Rose paused before asking her next question cautiously. "Are you worried about seeing Andrew at school?"

"Oh, um no not really. I mean if I see him I might try hexing him, but I'm pretty much over it. Actually I think I'm gonna go find the food trolley and get something to eat. You guys want anything?" They shook their heads as she got up and walked out of the carriage.

Rose turned back to the other two. "I can't tell if she's really over it or she's just holding it all in."

"She seems fine. Ella's tough, she always has been," Scorpius replied.

"Yeah she is, but there's only so much a girl can take. Your date hooking up with another girl at your party is not an easy thing to get over."

"I think talking to James actually really helped her," Albus commented. "I asked him what they had talked about, but he wouldn't say. Just said that everything was okay."

"Yeah but since when has James become an expert on girl matters?" Rose asked.

"Hey, I was as surprised as you are. But he wouldn't say things are okay if they weren't."

Rose nodded and stared out the window for a few minutes before going back to her book. Next to her Al and Scorpius resumed their Quidditch conversation. As they talked, Rose barely paid any attention to her book, thoughts of Ella and how she was doing clouding her mind. She was lost in her thoughts until suddenly Albus stood up next to her.

"Darcy!"

Rose quickly looked up to see the blonde outside her compartment stop walking and look in. Albus walked towards the carriage door and opened it.

"Oh, hi guys." Darcy smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. In fact, to Rose it looked like she was slightly upset. Well as upset as Darcy could look. "What's up?"

Albus looked at her curiously. "Not much. Hey, are you ok?"

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine, just fancied a walk. I was just gonna go find my own carriage. The girls in mine are fighting over something stupid, so I just needed some peace. I'll uh, see you guys later." She waved quickly, and turned around to go back down the train.

Albus turned to the other two and instantly made to grab his wand from the seat. "Al, don't go after her," pleaded Rose as she grabbed his wrist. "You said you wanted to get over her."

"Rose…"

"Are you gonna listen to anything we say?" interrupted Scorpius. Albus shook his head. "Then just go," Scorpius sighed. Al nodded in thanks and left.

Rose snapped her gaze towards Scorpius. "What was that? I thought we agreed to help keep him away from her for a while!" she accused.

"You know Albus, Rose. He's not gonna listen to us, especially when he thinks she's upset. There was no point in arguing with him."

"We can try!" Rose folded her arms and huffed as Scorpius leaned forward slightly.

"Look I know what we agreed, but this isn't something we can interfere in, or he'll just end up resenting us. It needs to play out on his own." Rose's eyes became less narrow, slowly filling with understanding. "Just let it play out, Rose," Scorpius repeated. "I know you hate the idea of not controlling everything, but it's the only thing we can do, ok?"

Rose stared at him a little while longer before slumping back on the seat and pulling her book back out. Scorpius sighed before reaching towards Albus' trunk to search for the Slytherin Quidditch playbook. Finding it, he sat back down across from Rose, propping his feet up next to her, and began going through plays.

A few minutes later Rose nudged his feet, and when he looked back up at her she mumbled, "You're right. I just don't want him getting hurt. He's my best friend."

He put the playbook down and leaned forward towards her. "He's mine too. And as much as I don't want him to get hurt either, it might have to happen for him to finally get over her."

Rose studied his face for a few seconds before cracking a small smile. "You know you both are like two girls with each other," she teased. Scorpius rolled his eyes but smiled. "But I guess we'll just have to-"

She was suddenly cut off when the lights in the train went out and the train screeched to a halt. Rose was thrown forward, and in result collided head on with Scorpius before falling on him.

"Son of a bitch!" he groaned, holding his hand up to his head, eyes shut in pain. "Are you ok?" he asked after the pain had dulled a bit. He looked down at Rose, who was currently sprawled across him and groaning.

"Ugh my head aches, but I'm fine other than that," she replied. She suddenly realized that she was laying on top of him, and blushed while quickly getting up just as the lights came back on. "Sorry."

"S'not your fault," he muttered. Standing up, he looked out of the window. "We've stopped though. The train never stops." It was getting dark outside, so Scorpius cupped his hands against the glass and tried to look outside. "I can't see a thing. C'mon." He indicated to follow him. They both stepped out of the carriage, looking around. They were at the very end of the train and next to their compartment was the extra baggage area.

Suddenly Rose gasped and pulled at his arm. "Scorp, look," she whispered, pointing towards the back door of the train. Through the window shade, they could see the shadow of a man reaching towards the door.

Scorpius reacted instinctively. Pulling out his wand, he aimed at the door and quickly muttered, "Colloportus," and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise. The two saw the shadow reach the handle and try to open, but the door refused to budge. The unknown person yanked on the door a bit harder before withdrawing their wand and attempting to open the door forcefully, but Scorpius' spellwork remained effective. The shadow then retreated and began to walk away from the door, towards the side of the train.

Rose yanked at Scorpius' arm, pulling him back into their carriage. Grabbing her wand from the seat, she pointed at the windows and gasped, "Infusco!" A dark tint began spreading down the window, and reached the bottom just before the man reached their window. Scorpius looked at her questioningly. "It's a tint spell. My mum used to use it when my dad would make us drive in our car everywhere. He won't be able to see us," she explained.

He nodded before looking back at the man outside. He wore a long nondescript black cloak and a hood that covered the top of his face. Where the hood ended, the two could see what looked like a silver mask, thought it only covered one side of his pale face. Suddenly without warning, he threw a spell at the window. Rose gasped and instinctively moved towards Scorpius, who immediately wrapped his arms around her and moved them backwards. Luckily, the spell did nothing and the window remained dark and intact. The slump of the man's shoulders showed his defeat and a moment later he took what looked like a coin out of his pocket and disapparated immediately.

Rose sagged with relief in Scorpius' arms, while he tightened his hold on her. "You ok?" he asked. She nodded against his chest before withdrawing out of his embrace and looking at him.

"Yeah I'm fine. But what the hell was that?!"

"I dunno. You don't think…" Rose turned to him. "You don't think it has anything to do with the Azkaban breakout, do you?"

Before Rose could reply, the carriage door was suddenly yanked open. Scorpius immediately turned around and moved defensively in front of Rose with his wand up, shielding her from whoever or whatever was at the door, only to find that it wasn't necessary.

"Woah Mr. Malfoy," the newcomer cautioned, "It's just me. Everyone alright?" Standing at their door was a young man of about 25 years old, with sandy brown hair and a serious look on his face.

"Professor Ramsey! Thank Merlin you're on the train," Rose exclaimed, relieved at the sight of her Ancient Runes professor. Scorpius stood aside a bit, but stayed alert. "We're fine, but there was someone outside of the train just now. He tried to get in, but Scorpius sealed the back door before he could. Then he tried to break through the window, but it didn't work so he disapparated just before you got here."

Ramsey nodded quickly before going to check the door at the back of the train. "Good job, Mr. Malfoy," he said as he came back. "The train is protected, which is why the spell didn't work. I don't suppose either one of you saw his face?"

The two students shook their heads. "Alright, well at least you're ok. Sit tight, the train should start in a few minutes." He left without another word, leaving Scorpius and Rose just staring at each other, more confused than ever.

* * *

Darcy! Darcy wait up!" Al paced after the blonde. Though she was a few paces ahead of him, he was also much taller than she was, and caught up to her quickly. When he was just behind her, he grabbed her hand.

She jolted to a stop and turned around. "Al, I really can't talk right now."

"Oh, sure. Um sorry," he stammered, thrown off by her unusual demeanor. He quickly let go of her hand. "I'll leave you be." He turned around to head back to his carriage when he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

"No, wait Al. I'm really sorry, that was rude. I'm just… not really having a very good day."

"T-that's fine, I can leave you be. Or I think I saw Davies in a few compartments back, I can go get him if you want?"

Her violet eyes darkened slightly, thought not very noticeably.

"No, um I don't really feel like sitting with him. But, um, if you want we can go find a compartment to sit in? I guess I wouldn't mind some company," she said, smiling meekly. Albus knew that he should tell her no, that he should tell her to go get Davies or even to go sit with her friends. But he didn't. Instead he grinned and gestured for her to walk ahead.

Before she could turn however, the lights went off and the train jerked to a stop. Darcy flew towards Albus, who managed to catch her as they both fell towards the floor. Luckily the corridor was carpeted, so Albus' fall was slightly cushioned as Darcy fell on top of him.

Looking up, Albus found Darcy's face hovering over his own, closer than he was comfortable with. Her arms were around his body from trying to find balance, but other than breathing hard from the fall, she seemed to be ok.

"Merlin Al, I'm so sorry," she whispered, though made no move to get up. "Are you ok?"

"Um yeah," Al replied, staring back at her. The train was dark, but she was close enough that he could make out almost every delicate feature of her face, including her pale eyes which were staring into his. Up this close, he could see that they had tiny flecks of silver hidden in their violet color. He could feel the warmth of her body as it covered his, and noticed that she hadn't loosened her hold on him. Before he could stop himself, he reached up to tuck a few pieces of her hair behind her ears, and let his hand softly graze her hair. She inhaled sharply, and moved downwards slightly, towards his face, when suddenly the lights came back on and the compartment door next to them slid open.

"Are you guys ok?" The two looked up to find Aiden looking down at them, his face half concerned half amused.

Snapping out of the moment, they simultaneously unwrapped their arms from each other. Darcy was the first to get up.

"Oh uh yeah, we're fine. I guess I kind of involuntarily tackled Al when the train stopped," she laughed nervously.

"Come on, you can join us," Aiden instructed. "Might be better than the corridor." Darcy nodded and looked quickly at Al before passing Aiden to enter. After she did, Aiden looked back down at Al, smirking. "You ok mate? You looked quite, um, comfortable there."

Al lay his head back down groaning. "Shut up. I hate you." Aiden laughed before holding out his hand to help his friend up. Standing up, Albus quickly dusted off his pants and followed Aiden into the carriage to find Emily, Ella, and Lorcan sitting with Darcy. He took a seat besides Darcy, leaving some space between them, who was next to Lorcan.

"I wonder why we've stopped," mused Ella, looking out the window. "We're still about an hour away from Hogsmeade."

Before she could say anything else, the carriage opened.

"You guys all ok?" Professor Sean Ramsay stood in the doorway, looking serious and counting everyone in the compartment.

"Yeah professor, we're ok," Emily answered. "Do you know why we stopped?"

"I'm not sure, Miss Longbottom," he answered distractedly. "But we should be on our way soon enough. If you'll excuse me, I have to check the rest of the students," he finished, leaving as quick as he arrived.

"That was strange," Emily said, turning to the others, who silently agreed.

Lorcan broke the silence a few minutes later. "Um, who was that bloke?"

"Seriously?" Ella asked him, and incredulous look on her face. "That's our Ancient Runes professor. He joined this year."

"Well how would I know that, I don't take Ancient Runes," Lorcan countered.

"He was introduced at the feast in the beginning of the year," Ella deadpanned.

"Which I missed thanks to the lovely distraction that is Selina Parkes," he replied smugly. Ella rolled her eyes in exasperation, but left it alone.

"Kinda young for a teacher, isn't he?"

"According to my dad, he's some sort of Ancient Runes prodigy," Emily answered.

"Did you see that!" Darcy exclaimed, interrupting Emily and pointing at the window. The others snapped their heads around quickly to see what she was pointing at. In the distance, about a mile away from the train, they could see what looked like a lit up wand retreating into the darkness.

"Ok, what the hell is going on," Emily whispered.

* * *

None of their questions were answered until much later during dinner. After the train had arrived at Hogsmeade station, Rose and Scorpius had found the others before going up to the school. At the Great Hall, Darcy had left for the Hufflepuff table with a small wave to Al, and the others scattered to their relative house tables. As dinner arrived and they ate, Rose could hear the whispers of her surrounding peers, all speculating as to what could have caused the train to stop.

"Scorpius reckons it might have something to do with the break out over the holidays," Rose whispered to Emily and Ella. "He said-"

"Silence please!"

Rose was interrupted by a loud voice from the front of the hall. Along with the others, she turned towards the front, where Professor McGonagall stood. At eighty-seven years old, Minerva McGonogall was still at Hogwarts as the Headmaster, having taken over the position after the war ended. Intending to retire soon after, she found that there was no where else she'd rather be than Hogwarts, and so she stayed each year.

"I know you are all confused and have questions about the incident that occurred with the train today. I've just received word from the Minister about the situation, and we along with the Ministry have decided that you need to be aware of what is happening."

Rose quickly glanced over to the Slytherin table where she could see Albus and Scorpius muttering softly to each other while paying attention to McGonagall. Scorpius caught her eye momentarily and they exchanged quick looks before turning back to the front.

"Over the holidays, two prisoners from Azkaban escaped." The hall gasped at McGonagall's blunt statement and immediately the chatter rose before she could continue.

"Silence!" Professor McGonagall's magically enhanced voice filled the hall. "Before you resume your conversations, I'd like you to listen." When no one said anything, she continued. "These two prisoners are war criminals. Their names are Alecto and Amycus Carrow, and they were great supporters of the Dark Lord during his rise to power. Initially I didn't think it was necessary for you all to know this, seeing as it doesn't pertain to you while you're in Hogwarts, but the Ministry received some information today that suggests that they are part of a group that may have been responsible for the train stopping today. This information also implies that this unknown group may be plotting something near or at Hogwarts. Due to this, we have some new rules to implement."

A groan went through the audience, but was silenced immediately by one look from McGonagall.

"First, from here on out, no one is allowed outside the castle after six in the evening, unless it is for a class. If you have a class on the grounds, you are to gather near the castle doors until a professor comes to escort you there. Second, prefect patrols will double. No one is to be out of their common rooms after 9pm, unless you have class in the castle, in which case your professor will give you a permission slip. Third, and this isn't a rule but rather a suggestion, please do not wander around the castle by yourselves. If you can, find a partner to go with you if you need to wander the castle. Prefects, when you patrol, there will be no more splitting up. Stay with each other the entire time. Lastly, and this is already a rule, no one is allowed in the Forbidden Forest. So please, do keep out. Understood?"

The students nodded in response.

"Finally I do have some good news. Next weekend we will have the make up Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff." Cheers erupted throughout the hall. McGonagall put her hand up, but had an amused look on her face. "Yes yes, I know, you're all happy. I've spoken to both the captains and we've agreed that the match will take place Saturday at ten in the morning. Prefects, the Head students would like me to instruct you to meet in the Prefect lounge so they can assign new partners and patrols. That's all, carry on."

As she went to sit down, the hall once again erupted into conversation. "Merlin, what would those old Death Eaters want at Hogwarts," muttered Rose. "You'd think they'd take their freedom and run."

"Yeah, well according to my dad, the Carrows aren't all there, if you know what I mean," Emily said, pointing to her head. "He told me that they used to torture students who didn't obey them during his final year at school," she whispered. Ella looked disgusted as she pushed around the food on her plate, and they lapsed into silence once again.

* * *

After dinner, Rose said her goodbyes to Emily and Ella, and headed to the prefect's lounge.

"Weasels!" she turned around to find Scorpius jogging over towards her. "Hey, I thought we could walk together," he grinned at her. She smiled and kept walking with him beside her.

"So, how much do you think these extra patrols are gonna suck?" she asked.

He chuckled. "Probably a lot. And I swear if I'm stuck with Lauren, I'm handing in my badge." Rose laughed beside him as they turned the corner, but before she could reply, they were interrupted.

"Rosie, I've been looking for you everywhere babe," Zach said walking towards them. "Malfoy," he said curtly, not even bothering to make eye contact.

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Rose, we're gonna be late," he tapped his watch.

"He's right Zach. Is it urgent?"

"Yeah, I really need to talk to you," he pleaded.

Rose sighed. "You go ahead Scorp. Tell them I'll just be a moment." His eyes narrowed, but he nodded and kept walking. She turned to Zach and said, "So what's up?"

"Nothing really, I just wanted to get rid of Malfoy," he grinned, moving towards her.

"Zach," she groaned exasperatedly, pushing him away. "That's sweet, but I have a Prefect's meeting that I'm late for." She pushed him gently and kept walking.

"I know, but I also wanted to ask about when you have some time to spend together. I didn't see you at all on the train," he reminded.

"You said that you had Quidditch stuff with your teammates that you had to discuss!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I didn't miss you. Maybe tomorrow?"

"I dunno, I have like four classes through the day."

"How about after, at night?" he pleaded.

She looked at him and sighed. "Didn't you hear Professor McGonagall? We're not supposed to be wandering around at night."

"Oh c'mon, that's more like a suggestion than a rule. Loosen up Rose," he grinned at her.

She frowned. "No Zach, it's a rule. That's what she said. And I'm a prefect, I can't be caught wandering the castle and breaking the rules." Before he could interrupt, she continued. "Look we'll figure it out, ok? But for now I have to go," she said, trying to hide her exasperation.

He had a resigned look on his face, but nodded before moving in to kiss her. She kissed him back briefly before pulling away and saying bye. Finally, he left and she hurried to the meeting. Reaching the door, she walked in just as the Head Girl was starting the meeting.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized to Christa Finnigan, who waved her apologizes away in good nature. She walked over to stand by Scorpius, who made room for her.

"No problem Rose, we were just getting started. Ok so as you all know prefect patrols are going to be doubled. Really all that means is that you're going to be patrolling every week instead of every other week for two hours, ok?" Everyone nodded as she looked towards the head boy, Killian O'Connor, to continue.

"Right, so new year, time for new patrol partners. Now as usual, these are picked randomly so no complaining and no switching," he warned. "Also we've tried to match this to your schedules as best as we can, so if there's a conflict, let us know. Alright here goes: Lily Potter and Aaron Nott, Monday nights from eight to ten. Julia Pickering and Nicholas Hooper, Monday nights from ten to midnight…"

Rose's attention was pulled away from the front by Scorpius nudging her. "So what'd loverboy want?" he whispered teasingly, though his voice had a slight edge to it that surprised her.

"Nothing really, just to know when I had free time for him. I swear he always wants me to make the time, but of course he can't cut into his precious Quidditch practice. I mean he is the bloody Captain, you'd think he could schedule practices whenever he wants."

"… Zelda Bletchely and Hugo Weasley, Tuesday nights ten to midnight…"

"So whatever happened to the rethinking the relationship that you told me about after the party before holidays?" he asked, not looking directly at her.

She sighed. "I was drunk and pissed off at him Scorp. It wasn't something I meant to act on," she whispered back. Before he could reply, however, she said, "Hold on, this is me."

"… Rose Weasley and Darcy Wood, Thursdays from ten to midnight…"

Rose looked over toward Darcy who sent her a small smile, and she grinned back. "Well I suppose if you and I couldn't be partnered, Darcy's the next best thing," she whispered to Scorpius.

"Yeah, well pray for me. Lauren still hasn't been assigned," he muttered. They both looked towards the Ravenclaw in question, who seemed to be alternating between smiling seductively at Scorpius and sending Rose scathing looks.

"… Lauren Montague and Lysander Scamander, Friday nights from eight to ten…"

Rose heard Scorpius quickly sigh in relief before they glanced over towards Lauren again, who was looking murderous. They knew she wouldn't have been as angry about being paired with his twin, but Lysander on the other hand was a bit more… free-spirited, to put it nicely. Turning away as soon as she looked toward them, they barely succeeded in holding back their laughter.

"Merlin that was lucky," he snickered.

"…Scorpius Malfoy and Natalie Stanforth, Friday nights from ten to midnight…"

"Oh that's not bad, Natalie's a blast," Rose whispered, waving to seventh year Gryffindor who was good friends with Louis, Fred, and James.

"Yeah and she's also usually in detention with Louis and Fred. I don't fancy having to do those patrols myself," he groaned back. "And late Friday night!"

"Don't worry I'm sure Albus will keep you company," she teased. "You can bond and do each other's nails, and talk about how mean we girls are," she winked, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Those are the patrols guys," Killian finished. "Christa and I will be taking all of Sunday nights, and filling in for when people can't make it. Now that is not an excuse to fake some illness or tell us you can't patrol. That's only if there's some legitimate reason you can't do them, got it?" The prefects all nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so other matters. We need to start thinking of a theme for this year's Victory Ball. As usual, the sixth year prefects will be mostly in charge of planning it, and Killian and I will be keeping an eye on you for the positions of Heads next year." Rose couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw the two Heads cast a longer glance on Scorpius and herself as they looked around the room. "You'll need to start brainstorming soon so that we can get the right decorations and entertainment. I think that's it, so you're free to go. Patrols start tomorrow!"

Everyone rushed to leave the room to get back to their dorms quickly, except for a few people who took their time to gather their things.

"I'm so glad we'll be partners, Rose," Darcy said, coming up to the two.

"Me too," Rose said in relief. "I was partnered with Holmes before, and I swear when we split up to patrol, he'd just meet his girlfriend for a snog."

Darcy laughed. "Anyways, I'll see you in class so we can figure out then where to meet up Thursday night." She waved and then left the lounge, heading in the direction of the Hufflepuff dorms.

Rose looked at where she'd left. "Merlin, I wish Al could've picked a worse girl to like. At least then she'd be easier to hate for breaking his heart."

"Yep," Scorpius agreed. "C'mon, I'll walk you back to your dorm."

They started walking towards Gryffindor Tower, but were joined quickly by another (unwelcome) presence. "Scorpius, I was really hoping that we would be paired together," Lauren purred, ignoring Rose completely. She batted her eyes at him and linked their arms together. "Maybe I can get Natalie to switch with me."

Rose snorted softly, but decided to let Scorpius handle it.

"Oh, um you hear O'Connor, Lauren. No switching. Plus I've got late Friday nights, no one would want to switch to that," he said, unlinking their arms as best he could. "Isn't the Ravenclaw dorm the other way?" he asked.

She pouted slightly before nodding and telling him she'd try and talk to the Head Boy about switching, then winked at him and turned to walk the other way.

"Well you're lucky that there's practically no chance O'Connor will change the partners," Rose commented as they climbed the stairs.

"This is fucking ridiculous," Scorpius complained from beside her. "Why won't she take the hint?"

"Because she's oblivious to any type of rejection. It just strengthens her resolve. I'll give her this, it's a good skill to have when we graduate and look for jobs," Rose laughed.

"Yeah but not when dealing with blokes," Scorpius replied. "I mean it'd be like dating Ava all over again, and I'm not going near that with a ten foot broomstick."

Rose chuckled as they turned the corner and walked toward the portrait of the Fat Lady. "I dunno what to tell you Ferret, she's relentless. If you're lucky she'll find some other poor soul to sink her claws into."

"I can only hope."

"Anyways, this is me," she said, walking in front of the portrait. She turned to smile at him. "Thanks for walking me. 'Night."

"Goodnight Rose," he murmured. "See you tomorrow." He waved and walked back the way they came.

"Such a polite young man, walking you back," the Fat Lady commented.

"Yeah, polite…" Rose mumbled thoughtfully before giving the password and retreating to her dorm.

* * *

**Tuesday morning**

The next morning the students all received their new schedules at breakfast.

"We've got Herbology first, then Care of Magical Creatures, then Potions," Albus said. He was glancing over the schedule as Scorpius ate besides him, both of them having signed up for most of the same classes given that they had the same profession in mind. "But you also have Astronomy tonight. Why are you taking that again?"

"No reason," Scorpius replied, looking over the Daily Prophet as he ate. "I like stars."

Albus sent a strange look towards his best friend before continuing to pour over his schedule. "Not bad though, only three classes during the day, with a break right after lunch. And I'm done at five." They both finished up breakfast before leaving for the greenhouses.

"…which reminds me I need to collect the team's schedules so I can reserve the pitch for practice when everyone's free and- Scorp?" Albus turned around to find that he'd been walking a few paces alone. Looking back he saw his friend had stopped near a group of Ravenclaws, including Rose's boyfriend. He quickly hurried back to where his friend was standing.

"...how does the Ministry not suspect that some of those old Death Eaters, who are free now, aren't helping them." Eddie Parks' voice drifted towards where Albus and Scorpius were standing. "For all we know, the Malfoys and others are housing those criminals."

Albus blanched and turned towards Scorpius, who was seething as he began to walk towards the group. Albus hurried after him.

"...I mean his father was a Death Eater for Merlin's-" Eddie broke off as he was shoved from behind. He caught his balance before turning around to face his attacker. "What the hell?!"

"Why don't you shut the fuck up and stop talking about what you don't understand, Parks," Scorpius snarled.

"Oh look, the Death Eater's son has come to defend him," Zach sneered. "Gonna hex us like daddy dearest would?"

"Sod off Corner," Albus snapped, grabbing hold of Scorpius before he could do anything he would regret. His friend struggled slightly, but Albus just grasped his arms tighter.

"This doesn't concern you, Potter. How do your parents even allow you to be friends with him. He could be helping the people that your family put away," Eddie said, with the others nodding behind him.

Scorpius growled. "I swear to Merlin, I'll fucking-"

"What's going on here?" The group's attention turned towards a voice from down the hall. Killian O'Connor was striding over towards, a concerned look on his face. As he reached them, he took in the scene. "I hope we're not fighting on the first day back, guys," he said warningly.

"Course not O'Connor," Zach said smoothly. "Just a friendly discussion. We'll be on our way to class now." With one last glare at Scorpius, Zach and Eddie turned around and left with their friends.

Once they were a safe distance away, Albus released the hold on his best friend. "You ok Scorp?"

"Fuck, I really hate them," he gritted out.

"Don't listen to them, they're right prats," Albus replied. "Thanks O'Connor."

"No problem guys, just keep the fighting to a minimum. I don't fancy having to deduct points from my own house," he sighed. "Potter, here are the schedules for everyone on your team. Be sure to figure out a practice schedule soon. I'm trying to hold off on letting the other captains reserve the pitch, but I can't be caught favoring Slytherin," he smirked. "Your brother already cornered me this morning," he said as he left.

Albus grinned. "Yeah sure, I'll get back to you tonight. Thanks again." The Head Boy nodded and went his own way.

"You sure you're ok?" Albus asked his friend warily.

Scorpius had a distant look in his eye. "Yeah I just... Merlin, no matter what he does to make up for it, it'll never be enough, will it?" he asked. Rather than angry, he seemed resigned, which worried Albus even more.

"Don't listen to those idiots, Scorp. Your dad has proven to everyone he's a different man. Hell, even my family knows it, and they didn't even get on well in school."

Scorpius nodded absentmindedly and they started walking towards the grounds. Just as they entered the greenhouses, Albus heard Scorpius mutter quickly, "Thanks Al." He smiled and clapped his best friend on the back before steering them over towards their friends.

* * *

Tuesday evening found Rose in her favorite study spot at the Library, a small corner behind the History of Magic section in the library that nobody else seemed to occupy due to the fact that there were very few students who even looked at the History of Magic books. She'd found it in her third year, and the only person who knew that she studied there was Albus, and that was only because he'd cheated and used the Marauders Map when he couldn't find her.

Rose sighed and slumped down in her seat as she finished the fifth inch of her essay. Somehow, on just the first day of classes, she'd already been assigned a twelve inch essay on everlasting Elixers for Potions, a ten inch essay on the properties of bobotuber pus and how to properly dilute it for Herbology, as well as three chapters of reading for Ancient Runes.

"At least I only have three classes today," she muttered to herself. Only a voice from behind her ten minutes later interrupted her concentration.

"There you are!"

Killian crossed to the other side of the table and sat down opposite Rose. Killian O'Connor was something of an anomaly to Rose. Tall with black hair and blue eyes, the charming seventh year Head Boy was a Slytherin. Yet to Rose he didn't seem to fit the typical profile of the house. Of the few Slytherins that she knew well, she could identify each of the underlying characteristic they possessed that had placed them in that house. For Albus it was his extreme resourcefulness, for Scorpius it was his ambition, and for Roxanne it was her cunning nature. To Rose's best knowledge, Killian had some of these qualities, yet they didn't seem to be his main characteristics. He was smarter than some of the most clever Ravenclaws, as kind as the nicest Hufflepuffs, and more chivalrous than half the Gryffindors she knew. For the life of her, Rose couldn't seem to figure him out.

Rose raised her eyebrows. "I didn't realize I was needed, O'Connor. How'd you find me?"

"Rose we've known each other for 5 years, I think you can call me Killian now," he chuckled.

"Sorry, habit," Rose replied.

He smiled. "And Albus told me I'd probably find you here."

"He needs to stop giving away my secrets," she said exasperatedly. "Well, what can I do for you?"

"I was looking over the patrol schedules and I noticed that have a conflict."

"I do?" This was news to her. Rose pulled her schedule out and examined it. Looking at Thursday, she saw Astronomy as listed from nine to eleven that night. "Damn, you're right. I forgot that my patrol night switched."

"Right, so I can try and talk to someone and have them switch with you. Do you have a specific day you'd prefer in mind?"

"You're giving me a choice?"

"Yeah sure why not?" He gave her a wry smile.

"Let's hope the other prefects don't find out," she teased. "Actually, I can keep Thursday night."

"How?"

"Astronomy is a once a week class, but it's offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'll just go tonight and ask Professor Sinistra if I can switch to tonight."

Killian looked so relieved. "You're an angel. This is why I like you the best. But sshhh, don't tell the others," he winked at her. She laughed as he got up, said bye and left her to continue to work. She got another three inches written before her next interruption.

"I need to talk to you." Albus sat down in the seat next to her. Rose finished the last word in the sentence she was writing before putting her quill down and looking at him.

"Ok first, stop telling people where I study. Second, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you about two things." He looked wary.

Rose frowned. "Good or bad?"

"Both aren't great. But one applies to you, the other is about me. Which first?"

Rose looked at her cousin warily before relenting. "The bad one for me I guess," she sighed.

"Your boyfriend and his friends are prats," Albus said bluntly.

"Wait, what?" Rose spluttered. That was not what she had been expecting. "What are you talking about?"

Albus launched into the story of what had happened that morning, making sure to tell Rose all the pertinent details, including the fact that Scorpius hadn't said anything to warrant such an attack on his family. "I dunno if they knew that Scorp was within hearing distance or not, but it doesn't matter. When Scorp confronted them, they both just kept antagonizing him more."

Rose looked upset. She got along very well with Scorpius' dad, and even Ron, who had been less than fond of Draco during the formative years of Albus and Scorpius' friendship, never said anything bad about him in front of the kids. "I'm so sorry Al. I don't know what's wrong with Zach or his friends, but I'll talk to him. They had no right to say any of that about Mr. Malfoy, Scorpius, or his family."

"Yeah. Scorp didn't want to tell you, but I thought you should know. Merlin Rose, what do you even see in that guy?"

Rose sighed heavily. "Let's not get into this now Al, ok? I know you guys aren't particularly fond of Zach, but he's not always a prat. At least he isn't to me. And this thing with him and Scorpius…" she trailed off. "I just don't know, but I'll talk to Zach about it, ok?" Albus didn't want to let it go, but nodded anyways. He'd approach that subject with her at another time. "What was the other thing you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh right. I uh… I need some advice."

"On…?"

Albus paused. "Um, well… I want to tell Darcy how I feel about her," he blurted out.

"What?!" Rose looked at her cousin with wide eyes. "Why?!"

"Hear me out," he gestured for her to stop. "We had this… moment, on the train. When the train stopped she kind of got thrown into me and we fell on the floor." Rose was about to say something, but stopped herself and gestured for him to continue. "Anyways, she fell on top of me, and I dunno, it seemed like she was about to kiss me. And then Aiden turned up and the whole thing ended. But she was definitely about to kiss me, you can ask Aiden!"

Rose remained quiet as Albus finished his story. "Al, it's not a matter of whether or not she was going to kiss you," she said softly. "This isn't a good idea."

"But Rose-"

"No," she commanded, "you hear me out now. Yes, you may have had a moment, but that's all it was. And I know that she cares about you, that part is obvious. But she's still dating Davies. Telling her about your feelings is a risky game. You could either win it all, and she'll return your feelings and break up with him, or you could lose it all, including her friendship. Are you willing to risk that?"

Albus sat still for a moment, thinking over Rose's words. "Yes," he said, surprising her. "I just can't take this anymore, Rose. I love being friends with her, but it's killing me. And I feel like if I don't tell her, it's always going to be a 'what if.'"

Rose cocked her head and looked at her cousin with sympathy. "You've thought this through."

"It's been on my mind for a while," he admitted.

"What does Scorpius say?"

"I uh, I actually haven't talked to him about this," he replied, surprising Rose. "I wanted a girl's opinion. Actually no, I just wanted your opinion."

Rose smiled fondly. "If you're determined to do this, then nothing I can say will stop you. Just please, be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."

Al moved to hug her. "Thanks," he whispered in her ear. "Alright, I'll leave you alone now." He got up and Rose watched as he left, a slight frown on her face.

* * *

**Tuesday, 9:00pm**

Rose hurried up the stairs of the Astronomy tower to the top floor. Reaching the top, she immediately sought out Professor Sinistra.

"Hello Professor," she greeted.

"Ms. Weasley," the professor replied in a tone of surprise. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you, but I was under the impression that you were in my class on Thursday."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. My prefect patrols got switch to Thursday nights, so I can't make it then. The Head Boy said he could find someone to switch with me, but I didn't want to be a hassle so I told him I'd ask you if I could attend class on Tuesday nights instead."

"My dear, I wouldn't mind at all except everyone is already partnered up. And it's simply too much work for you to do by yourself," Professor Sinistra answered sympathetically.

"Oh well I suppose I'll just-"

"Rose!" Rose turned to see Zelda Bletchely hurrying towards her. "O'Connor told me you had to switch the night of your Astronomy class because of patrols." Rose nodded. "Well I do to. I was assigned Tuesday nights with your brother."

"Oh, right! Professor is it ok if Zelda and I just switch then?"

"I don't see a problem. I'll see you Thursday night Ms. Bletchely."

Rose thanked Zelda as she left, and turned to see who she would be working with. Finding all the students paired up, she was about to ask the professor who Zelda's partner had been when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Sorry I'm late professor, I got held up at dinner." Rose whirled around to find Scorpius reaching the classroom.

"Try not to make it a habit, Mr. Malfoy. Oh and you have a new partner. Ms. Bletchely had to switch with Ms. Weasley due to their prefect patrols."

Scorpius looked over to Rose in surprise and gave her a small wave which she returned. As he walked over, Rose began to grow anxious. For some reason, she felt responsible for her boyfriend's utter lack of tact towards Scorpius in his family. She had intended to apologize on Zach's behalf, but at her own time, not when she hadn't even expected to see him.

"Hey Weasels, I didn't know you still took Asronomy," Scorpius greeted.

"Um yeah. I just love the mythology behind the constellations, so I decided to keep it. How come you still take it?"

"Same, actually. Growing up with the name 'Scorpius Hyperion' kinda made me curious," he joked, causing her to laugh. "Anyways looks like we're partners, so…" he indicated for her to move towards a telescope.

"Class, tonight we're just going to be charting some of the constellations," Professor Sinistra addressed the class. "Next week we'll start observing planetary movement patterns, locations, and their environments. Alright, get to it."

Rose and Scorpius walked to an open telescope and took out their charts.

"Alright, what do you want to start with?" he asked, looking down at the parchment.

"I'msorrymyboyfriendandhisfriendswereidiots," she blurted out really quickly, then mentally scolded herself.

"What?" Scorpius gave her a baffled look.

"I said, I'm sorry my boyfriend and his friends were idiots," she said softly.

He took a deep breath. "Albus told you?" She nodded silently and he sighed. "I wish he hadn't. It really isn't your problem."

She looked up quickly. "Scorpius it may not be my problem, but I'm still sorry. He and his friends should never have said anything about your family. It's completely unnecessary."

"I wouldn't say that, Rose. I mean they were Death Eaters," he muttered.

"Operative word being 'were.' Look I wasn't upset about it only on your behalf, I happen to like your dad. He's always nice to me, and I consider him to be a good guy and mentor. So you can bet I'll be having words with Zach just over that. Insulting you just makes it worse since you really haven't don't anything ever to deserve it."

He took in her words, quite stunned at how passionate she was about it. "Why are you so adamant about this?" he asked quietly.

"Because you don't deserve it," she repeated. "Look, Albus and I and all our cousins have to live with the stigma of what our parents did for the Wizarding World. And you have the same for your family, except it's in a more negative light. And while I think we've all come to accept it, it's completely unfair and I don't think it should be thrown in our faces, whether it's positive or negative." He looked at her thoughtfully. "And because... Well because you're my friend too," she finished, smiling gently at him.

He stared at her for a few moments before nodding. "Thanks Rose. That… that means a lot. And thank you for defending my dad too. I know he'd appreciate it."

She laughed softly. "Well I do like him more than I like you," she teased, only for him to nudge her playfully. "As for my boyfriend… well I'll be talking to him about acting his age. And before you say anything, it's not just for you. He shouldn't be saying stupid shit like that about anyone."

"Rose Weasley, you are… you are really something," Scorpius commented. She smiled at him before looking down at her parchment, and he could feel his heart tugging softly. This was not doing much for quelling those damn pesky feeling of his.

* * *

**Wednesday afternoon**

"Scorp, come on! If we're late that old bat will give us detention."

Albus and Scorpius ran up the stairs of the North Tower with about thirty seconds to spare before their Divination class started. Reaching the top, Al pushed on the circular trapdoor and climbed up the ladder. Once at the top, he reached down to give Scorpius a hand, only for both of them to turn and come face to face with Professor Trelawney.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy," Professor Trelawney greeted them with a mystical sounding voice. "So good of you to join us. Of course I foresaw that you would be late." Behind the professor, Al could see Lorcan and Aiden sitting at their usual table, barely stifling their laughter.

"Uh, sorry Professor. We were on our way when, uh-"Albus tried to grasp at the first excuse to come to his mind- "when, um… Scorpius had a vision!" Scorpius' head snapped towards his best friend, and he quickly mouthed _What in the bloody hell? _

"A vision! My dear boy, you must tell me what you saw!" Professor Trelawney cried. "You may very well be blessed with the Sight!"

At this point, Lorcan and Aiden weren't even trying to hide their laughter anymore, while the rest of the class had amused and skeptical looks on their faces.

"Um, well… yeah, you see I saw…" Scorpius tried to think up something on the spot. "I saw um… a giant marshmallow man." It was Albus' turn to look at his best friend with a baffled expression, but Scorpius kept going. "Yeah, a marshmallow man and it was walking around London. And then Albus tried to stop it, but it ate him-" Lorcan and Aiden were clutching at each other in an effort to not fall off their seats- "and then I tried to save him but uh, my broomstick turned into a… pumpkin. So Al got eaten by the marshmallow."

Al rolled his eyes but Professor Trelawney looked enraptured. "My dear boy, that was quite a vision. You'll have a chance to interpret what it might mean today, as we're working with the crystal ball for then next two weeks. Take your seats, and we'll get started."

The two boys walked towards their usual table, and sat besides Lorcan and Aiden.

"A giant marshmallow man?" Albus hissed. "Really Scorp?"

"What? I couldn't think of anything and then that movie we watched over break popped into my head, you know, 'Ghoulbusters.'"

"You mean _Ghostbusters_," Albus corrected before turning his attention to the front of the class.

"Today we shall be studying the art of crystal gazing," Professor Trelawney began. "Crystal gazing is a difficult ability, and I do not expect you to See on the first time you look into the Orb's infinite depths. First, I want you to practice relaxing your mind and external eyes, so that your Inner Eye is clear. Once you think your Inner Eye is clear, try gazing into the crystal, and note what you see."

"What a load of rubbish," Lorcan complained. "Remind me why we took this class again?"

"Because it's a blow off class and the only one we can take together and not have a load of actual work," Aiden reminded him. "So, why were you blokes really late? Don't tell me Scorpius really has found his inner Seer."

Scorpius snorted as Albus answered. "Yeah right. Nah, we just went to find O'Connor to book the pitch for our first practice."

"Oh? When did you get?" Aiden asked.

"Like I'm gonna tell you," Albus scoffed. "You may be my mate, but I'm not gonna let you sneak onto the pitch and spy on our practice."

Aiden clutched his chest. "You wound me, Albus. After all these years of friendship, the mere fact that you would even think-"

"Fourth year," Scorpius interjected, and Aiden scowled at him.

"You Slytherins never let anything go, do you?" Both Slytherins smirked at him, before quickly wiping the smiles of their face when Professor Trelawney came to their table.

"Any progress yet boys? Perhaps you Mr. Malfoy?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"Uh, actually Lorcan's gazing first," he informed her. She immediately turned to look at Lorcan, who was glaring at Scorpius.

"Well Mr. Scamander? Do you see anything? You know your mother had quite the open mind and strong Inner Eye," she said dreamily.

"Uh yeah, I think Lysander inherited her talents more than me," Lorcan said.

"Well give it a try, my boy. You'll never know if you don't test your Inner Eye."

Lorcan refrained from rolling his external eyes and looked towards the crystal ball in the middle of the table. "Ok well I see… I see a shadow. It looks like it's taking something, out of the ground." The three other boys turned to look at Lorcan as he spoke. "There's someone else there now. They're fighting over the object and…" he trailed off.

"And?" Professor Trelawney questioned."

"And it's gone. Sorry professor, the ball fogged up again," he apologized.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, my dear boy," she said kindly. "You saw more than is to be expected for the first time. Perhaps you have more of your mother's talent than you think." She gave him a smile before moving onto the next table.

"Did you seriously see anything?" Aiden asked.

Lorcan laughed. "Nah, made it all up. Figured it sounded mysterious enough that I wouldn't have to explain, and it probably symbolizes something or the other." The others laughed with him. "So what's new with you guys?"

Scorpius and Aiden shook there heads, but Albus replied. "Um actually, I think I'm gonna tell Darcy how I feel."

"What?!" The other three mirrored Rose's reaction to the same news.

"Hear me out," Albus reasoned. They nodded so he continued. "I talked to Rose about it already. I just feel like I'm never gonna get over her if I'm don't get this out, you know? And I'm willing to risk the friendship because to be honest, I dunno if I can continue to be friends with her after this anyways."

"You've thought this through," Aiden stated. Al nodded. "Well I'm good with it, mate. It's risky but I think you've gone past the point of caring about risk anyways, so…"

"Yeah, I have. I'm just tired of it all. I want to be with her, but I just can't keep carrying on as just a friend. Hey, maybe it'll make her admit any feelings he has for me," he said hopefully. The others smiled at him, but didn't say anything. Truth was they all thought that it was possible that Darcy had feelings for Al as well, but the fact that she hadn't broke up with her boyfriend spoke louder than any thoughts.

"So when are you gonna do it?" Scorpius asked. He'd been pretty blindsided by the whole thing, especially since Al usually talked to him about this kind of stuff when they were by themselves.

"Probably this weekend. The Gryffindor/Ravenclaw Quidditch match is Saturday morning, so maybe I can catch her before or after."

Scorpius nodded, and was about to reply when Professor Trelawney interrupted them.

"Ok class, that's enough for today. But we will be continuing the noble art of crystal gazing next time." The students began to gather up their stuff. "And I want you to start keeping a dream diary, as we will also being interpreting our dreams. Trying to record at least 3 of your dreams before our next class." Everyone groaned softly as they got up to leave.

"Bloody bat," Lorcan muttered. "I never remember my dreams anyways. Except for you know, the ones about girls." Aiden made a disgusted face at his best friend. "Guess I'll just have to make stuff up again," he said, as they all descended the ladder.

* * *

**Thursday, 7:30pm**

"James?"

Ella poked her head into the Captain's office Wednesday evening, looking around the small room. The Gryffindor team had just finished up their first team practice of the year, during which practically all traces of the fun and laid-back James that they'd seen over the holidays seemed to be gone and replaced with a captain determined to lead his team to victory. After informing the team that he'd finally been able to corner the Head Boy and reserve the pitch for Thursday evening, they'd spent an hour going over drills in the locker room, then another two hours on the pitch before finally being released. Just before Ella could leave however, James had asked her to stay back.

The chair behind the captain's desk swiveled around, revealing James. He was looking down at a playbook as he turned. "Hey Ella. I'll just be a sec." He scribbled on the page before motioning for her to enter and sit down.

She hesitated before walking into the office, but remained standing. Fidgeting with her hands, she barely suppressed her desire to run out of the room to avoid the inevitable awkwardness that was bound to ensue. She couldn't lie; she was slightly apprehensive that James was about to bring up what happened between them at midnight on New Year's. Though everything between then had seemed perfectly normal right after it happened, she couldn't help but over think their kiss more and more in the days that followed. That led to her avoiding him on the train, and as much as she could during the first few days of school. Of course that was getting to be pretty difficult seeing as they shared the same house, were on the Quidditch team together, and took the same History of Magic class.

"Sorry about that," he stood up, dropping the book and quill on the desk and then sighed dramatically. "A captain's job is never done," he joked. She laughed nervously. "Do you want to sit?" He motioned to the chair in front of his desk.

"I'm fine," she replied, trying to hide any unease that might lace her voice. "Um, what'd you want t talk about?"

"Straight to the point, huh?" he chuckled. He walked around to the front of the desk, about three feet in front of her, where he leaned back against the desk so that he was half sitting and half standing. "So we're playing Ravenclaw this weekend."

Ella tried to keep a confused look off her face. That was not what she had been expecting. "Um yeah, I know James. You repeated it like a hundred times during practice."

He laughed softly and shook his head. "I know, I just wanted to make sure you'd be ok, that there'd be nothing distracting you."

She cocked her head in confusion, as she began to doubt that this was about their kiss. "Like what?"

He cleared his throat, beginning to look slightly uncomfortable. "Well you've had a lot of things going on and-"

"James, just spit it out," she cut him off bluntly.

He took a deep breath before laying it out. "Davies and Turner are both on the team. And I heard they're dating now. I just…" he trailed off. "Is that going to be a distraction for you?" he asked.

She let out the small breath, that she'd been holding, in relief. If she had to choose between talking about their kiss or her cheating date, she would choose the latter every single time to avoid the awkwardness of the situation. "It won't be a problem, James. I mean yeah it still hurts, but it's not like I was that invested in the relationship." James raised an eyebrow. "I mean…" she backtracked, realizing that she sounded too casual. "What I meant was that he and I had only been out once. It's not like he was my boyfriend and we'd been dating for a longer time. That would've hurt more," she clarified.

"Right, well that's good. I can't have my best chaser distracted from the game," he grinned at her.

She laughed softly. "You scared me, I thought you wanted to talk about something else," she told him as she turned to leave.

"What do you mean?"

Facing the door, she squeezed her eyes closed, cursing herself for saying anything. Slowly, she turned back around. "Um well I thought… that you uh… maybe…" she stuttered, trying to come up with an answer. When she failed to find a lie, Ella composed herself as best she could and muttered, "I thought you were going to bring up what happened between us on New Years."

Realization dawned on James' face and he smiled as she blushed furiously. "Actually now that you mention it-"

"It was nothing," Ella blurted out, before looking down. Since she was looking anywhere other than at James, she missed the slight look of hurt that crossed his face. "I mean, I know it didn't mean anything, James," her cheeks reddening even more.

A few moments passed before he spoke. "That's not what I was going to say." He got up and moved towards her. Raising a hand, he lifted her chin up until she was looking at him and then moved his hand to softly caress her cheek. "I was going to say that I haven't stopped thinking about that kiss since it happened." Her breath hitched. "I was going to say that it was the best part of my night." His eyes moved down to look at her lips. "I was going to say that it definitely meant something." He moved closer to her, tilting her chin up a bit more. "And I was going to say that I would very much like to do it again."

Before she could get a word out, he lowered his face and kissed her.

Ella froze for just a second before she lost her train of thought, closed her eyes, and began to kiss him back. Spurred on by her reaction, James' hands moved to hold her face as he deepened the kiss. She sighed softly and instinctively moved closer to him, putting her hands on his waist.

She'd never felt this way when kissing someone before. Sure there had always been heat and electricity with other blokes, but with James there was something else. There was a feeling of comfort, like she was at home. She felt safe in his arms, almost like nothing else existed outside of them.

And this realization scared her more than anything else.

Suddenly she pushed him away. "What you doing?!"

He grinned at her, obviously pleased with her initial reaction. "Snogging you. And quite enjoying it. In fact you seemed to be enjoying it too," he said, moving back closer to her.

She threw out her arm to keep him away. "No, stop. We can not do this!"

He looked confused. "Why not? It seemed like it was working pretty nicely just now," he chuckled.

"James this isn't funny. This is so-"

"Right? Perfect? Hot?" He winked at her.

"-Wrong," she gritted out.

"How is it wrong?" he asked, becoming exasperated as he realized that she wasn't joking. "I fancy you. You certainly seem to fancy me. Or are you telling me that you don't?"

She groaned. "It has nothing to do with whether or not we fancy each other. We just can't ok?"

He threw his hands up in frustration. "Why not? Give me one reason why," he retorted.

She hesitated, trying to think of an excuse other than that her feelings scared her. "Because.. because you're my best friend's cousin!"

He scoffed. "Rose would be completely fine with it, you know that. Wanna try again?"

She mentally cursed him, knowing he was right. "You're my captain. It's bad form to date team members."

"Now you're just making excuses," he sighed. He caught hold of her hands and pulled her closer to him. Holding her hands to his chest, he looked at her meaningfully. "Ella, tell me this isn't what you want. Tell me that you don't fancy me. Tell me that our kiss meant nothing," he murmured. "Tell me that, and I'll back off."

Ella stared into his hazel eyes. "James… I…" she stuttered. She closed her eyes and pulled her hands out of his. "I just can't." Turning around, she yanked the office door open and ran out of the locker room, ignoring his call after her. She ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower, ignoring the looks from everyone she passed, and collapsed on her bed once she reached her dorm. Looking around, all of her roommates were gone, and she found herself relieved that Rose had patrols that night and Emily had her Astronomy class so that she wouldn't have to explain her flustered state.

After laying on her bed for twenty minutes, trying desperately not to think of the kiss, the door to the dorm opened and she sat up to see Charlotte Jones and Mia Boot walking in.

"Hey Ella," Mia greeted her. "We didn't see you at dinner."

"Not really hungry," Ella muttered.

"Really? After Potter grilled us on the field, I was starving," Charlotte replied, walking over to her bed. "Speaking of which, he's looking for you."

Ella snapped her head up. "James is?"

"Yeah," Charlotte said nonchalantly as she cleared went to pull something out from under her bed. "He was in the Great Hall, and he asked if I'd seen you after practice. I think he's in the common room now, if you want to talk to him."

Ella hesitated. "Uh, actually I'm kinda beat from practice, I'm just gonna sleep. I'll talk to him tomorrow," she lied.

"I don't blame you," Charlotte laughed as she found her Gobstones set. "He really went all out on the pitch today. I'm so beat and all I did were Seeker drills. You guys had it way harder."

"Yeah," Ella agreed. "Anyways, I'm gonna shower then go to sleep. Night guys," she said, walking towards the lavatory. The other two girls waved to her as they left to head down to the common room. Closing the door to the loo, Ella leaned back against it and slid to the floor.

"_Fuck_."

* * *

**Thursday, 11:10pm**

"So, what's that one there?"

Emily and Aiden were laying on their backs on the top level of the Astronomy Tower. Their Astronomy class had just ended but they'd stayed there longer telling the professor that Emily was helping Aiden with his charting.

"That is Cassiopeia. It's named after the queen of Aethiopia," Emily whispered to her boyfriend. "The mythology behind it is that Queen Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than the Nereids, who were Sea Nymphs. As punishment, Poseidon placed her in the sky tied to a throne. As she circles the celestial pole, she's upside down for part of the time since she's tied to the throne."

"Hmm, you make Astronomy sound much sexier than Professor Sinistra," he murmured into her neck, causing her to laugh. "What about that one?" He lifted his head to point at the sky quickly, then moved back to her neck and began kissing it.

"That's Ursa Major. It's… ah… it's um sort of in the shape of a… um-" she stuttered as he paid more attention to her neck- "a bear. The myth behind it is… ah… oh sod it." She cut of and turned her head to kiss him fully on the mouth.

"You know, we could get caught," he murmured against her lips.

"It's ok, Rose is on patrol tonight," she whispered as she began to kiss up his jaw.

He smiled and began stroking her hair. "Well thank Merlin for friends who are Prefects."

She laughed softly in near his ear before kissing him on the cheek then sitting up. Turning around, she sat in between his legs and leaned against him as he put his arms around her. "You know, we still haven't really talked since… since our fight."

"Oh yeah," he said lamely. This is exactly what he'd been trying to avoid for so long, but a voice in the back of his head told him he needed to stop running. This was Emily, the girl he'd loved for… longer than he could remember. He still remembered being nervous to ask her to Hogsmeade without all of their friends back in their fourth year. "Well I guess I'm ready to talk now, if you want."

She turned to look at him, a surprised look on her face. "Wait, seriously? You're not going to change the subject or run out? Or maybe jump off the tower?"

"Hey! I'm not that bad," he said defensively. She gave him a look. "Alright, well maybe I'm not great at the whole confrontation thing, but I'm still here, aren't I?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you are."

"So…?" He prodded.

She took a deep breath. "I just want you to let me explain what I meant about our future." He nodded. "First off, obviously I see a future with you, you idiot. When I hesitated at the thought of kids and marriage, it wasn't because I didn't want those things with you. It was because I don't want them to hold you back from your dreams." He began to talk, but she interrupted him. "No, let me finish Aiden. Look, we both have big dreams for our future. You want to play Quidditch and I'd like to join the Department of Mysteries. How do you think kids will factor into that? I don't want our families raising our kids while we're off doing our jobs." He inhaled and nodded silently. "And as for marriage, of course I want to marry you. But I don't want to hold you back from what you want to do."

"Ems, you could never-" he started, but she interrupted him again.

"Not in the way you think, Aiden. I mean that I know you. If we got married, you'd feel bad about traveling for Quidditch all the time and being away from me. And as my husband, you'd feel more obligated to stay behind rather than if you were only my boyfriend. Don't tell me I'm wrong Aiden Zabini, I know you better than you know yourself. I know it hurts when you see your mom sad when your dad has to travel for work, and that's not even that much. You'd be traveling a lot more."

Damn, he thought. She's spot on. He sighed. "You know me too well."

She smiled and moved closer to him. "Don't I know it. But anyways, back to the point. I just think we shouldn't make any definite plans now because I don't want us to be disappointed if they don't work out the way we plan it to. Or even worse, I don't want us adhering to those plans when they're not right for us down the road."

He sat silently for a few minutes pondering her words, and then spoke. "Why do you have to be so god damned smart Emily Longbottom. I swear, you are too good for me."

Relief covered her face as she turned around and lay back against him. "That doesn't matter, because you're the only one for me," she murmured.

He kissed the top of her head, and they sat gazing at the stars for a while longer, before gathering their things and leaving the tower.

* * *

**Thursday, 11:30pm**

"So, you had a good holiday then?" Darcy asked.

She and Rose were currently patrolling the fourth floor, checking classrooms and hallways for anyone who was breaking curfew. They'd been at it for about an hour so far, and in Rose's opinion, Darcy had seemed slightly distracted for the most part. Rose couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with what Albus had confided in her. She hadn't had the chance to talk to her cousin all day, and didn't want to bring it up with Darcy.

"Yeah, it was good I suppose," replied Rose. "The whole family got together, so it was nice to see everyone. Oh, And Teddy and Victoire got engaged."

"Yeah, I heard. James told JD," she smiled. "Have they set a date yet?"

"I think they're planning for summer. There are so many family members on our side that summer is the only time we're all usually in one place," Rose smiled. "Vic's mom and aunt are planning everything. Though I think Gabrielle was still holding out hope that she could set Victoire up with some French guy, so let's hope she doesn't sabotage anything."

Darcy laughed, assuming Rose was joking. When she saw Rose look at her questioningly, she raised her eyebrows. "Oh, you were serious?"

"Dead serious. Apparently Gabrielle thinks that Victoire, Dom, and Louis have lost their French roots by living in England and going to Hogwarts. She wanted them to attend Beauxbatons with their cousins, but both Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur shot that idea down." Reaching a classroom, Darcy poked her head in to look around for anyone. Content that it was empty, they continued down the hall. "But, I don't think she would actually do anything to mess with the wedding," continued Rose. "Victoire is her goddaughter after all. But how were your holidays? Did you have fun at the party? Sorry I didn't get to talk to you much."

"Yeah, it was fun," Darcy said. "It looked like you had enough on your plate though, I didn't want to be a bother." Rose looked at her in confusion. "I mean with Ava and then Ella's… situation with Andrew," she explained. "He's such a prat. And I heard he and Amy are dating now."

"I know. I mean to cheat on your date in her house and at her party. I'm still plotting revenge on Ella's behalf."

"I will gladly join you in that," Darcy grinned. "I've never liked Andrew much."

"To be honest, I don't hang out around Zach's friends much, so I didn't know too much about him before," Rose said. "Have you spent time around him with Callum?" The blonde looked slightly uncomfortable, so Rose backtracked. "I don't mean to pry or anything…."

"No it's fine,' Darcy reassured her. "He's hung around us a few times, and I've always got this 'player' sort of vibe from him. He took my friend Phoebe to Hogsmeade once last year, and while she thought that date went well, he never asked her out again." Rose nodded thoughtfully. Suddenly, Darcy stopped and reached out to stop Rose as well. "Rose, can I tell you something?"

"Uh, sure," Rose replied, slightly wary.

"I um… I need some advice." Rose waited for her to continue, apprehensive that this was going to be about Albus and his confession. "I told Callum that I needed a break," she blurted out.

"Wait, what?" Rose asked. People were on a roll in the department of surprising her this week.

"I dunno, things have been feeling off with us lately. Every time we're together it's like we're only a couple and we only do couple things, you know? I'm starting to wonder what the foundation to our relationship is."

Rose nodded slowly. Somewhere in the back of her head this was starting to sound familiar, but she pushed those thoughts aside. "So you guys are broken up then?" she asked, cautiously.

"No, not completely," Darcy admitted. "I told him that I didn't want to break up and just asked him for some time apart to think about things. I've been feeling like we were going through a routine day after day, rather than actually being invested in it for a while now."

"What'd he say?"

"Well at first he was confused. And then he was pretty mad," Darcy sighed. "He didn't really understand what I meant, and I had to explain it all to him. And even then, he didn't really get it. But afterwards he told me to do whatever I wanted and let him know when I figured it out." She rubbed her eyes in frustration. "And I don't want to ask Phoebe or Penny about it. With them being my best friends, they're too close to the situation to be objective about it. That's why I was hoping I could talk to you about it," she finished.

"Of course you can," Rose smiled. "Lay it out for me."

Darcy smiled gratefully, and they turned to keep walking. "I just feel like there's no foundation to our relationship. I mean I'd been single for most of the summer before fifth year, and then I came back to school and heard that Callum Davies wanted to date me. And it was flattering, you know? He was a year older, and he was well known for being a decent Seeker, and pretty popular to boot. I guess I just got swept away with the idea of it all rather than the reality." Rose nodded along as they walked. "And then he asked me out, I said yes, and suddenly I was his girlfriend. You know we didn't even go out on a date first? He just asked me to be his girlfriend, and I accepted. And yeah we went out on dates after that, but a lot of the time we would meet up with his friends, and the time we actually were alone we'd spend it snogging. We never just talked about stuff that was going on in or lives or anything really. We just settled into this routine, and I guess I got so comfortable with it I didn't notice that anything was wrong."

"So what made you realize finally that there was something wrong?" Rose asked. She wondered whether it was Darcy's ability to talk so easily and openly with Albus, but kept that to herself.

Darcy sighed. "A lot of things really, I've been feeling this way for the last few months. I wrote it off as nerves over him wanting me to meet his family, but now I know it's not that. What really clinched it was seeing Emily and Aiden together on the train."

"Huh?"

"I was passing by their compartment on the train, and the two of them were just sitting their and… talking. And just enjoying each other's company. I think I can count the number of times Callum and I have done that on one hand. And the times I've actually gotten him to talk to me rather than just snog, it was mostly about Quidditch," she explained.

"Yeah but Darcy, Emily and Aiden put all us other couples to shame. And of course they were friends long before they started dating."

"But that's the point, Rose," she interjected. "I want that. I want to be with someone who wants to talk to me about anything and everything, who's interested in my mind not just my mouth. I'm just starting to realize that Callum and I never really even had a friendship. And to this day it's more like we're just a couple, and not friends, and it's made me realize that… I'm not in love with him."

Rose sighed. "To be honest, it doesn't sound like you need any advice, Darcy. It's pretty clear your mind is made up."

The blonde stopped and turned. She let out a breath and gave Rose a small smile. "You're right. I guess I just needed to hear it all out loud." She hesitated before speaking again. "But Rose, what if I'm wrong. What if I'm making a huge mistake and just ruining everything? And I don't want to hurt him, I mean I do care about him."

"I don't think you're making a mistake. Darcy, everything you've said makes sense. And yeah it may hurt right now, but in the long run you're both better of," Rose reasoned.

"True," Darcy mused. "Thanks Rose, you've really helped a lot, I-"

She was cut off by the sounds of scuffling coming from around the corner, and they both groaned.

"Bloody fantastic. School just started, can't they keep it in their pants?" Rose complained, as Darcy stifled a laugh.

They were approaching the corner when Darcy looked down and saw her shoelace untied. Stopping, she bent down. "Bugger. Rose You go ahead, I'll catch up."

"Uh huh, leave it to me eh? Thanks," she said sarcastically. Darcy grinned in response.

Continuing around the corner, Rose approached the broom closet which was emitting some girlish giggles. Grimacing at the thought of catching some love struck couple in the heat of passion, she called out to them. "Ok, if you lot come out within fifteen seconds, I'll only give you detention and not take away house points."

The giggles suddenly stopped.

"And Merlin, please be decent!" Rose pleaded. "One… Two…" she began.

Fifteen seconds later, Rose wasn't surprised to see Lauren Montague getting out of the broom closet, her blouse halfway on.

"You're a bloody buzz kill, you know that Weasley?" she sneered at Rose.

"Do I look like I care?" Rose deadpanned. "You're a prefect Montague. This is hardly setting a good example."

Lauren scowled and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Now is your partner coming out or do I have to…" Rose trailed off as she saw who was emerging from the broom closet. Her eyes widened, and she muttered, "Oh fuck."

Standing in front of her was Callum Davies.

"Rose did you send them back to their dor-" Darcy came around the corner, breaking off and freezing when she saw her boyfriend standing next to Lauren, both looking disheveled and guilty.

Silence met the group as Callum looked downwards in shame, Darcy stood speechless with her mouth hanging slightly open, and Lauren glared defiantly at both the other girls. Rose's eyes remained focused on her partner as a look of immense hurt slid across the Hufflepuff's face.

"Darce-"

"Are you kidding me?" Darcy whispered, interrupting what was sure to be an apologetic plea from Callum. He immediately quieted. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" she repeated, much louder than the first time.

Lauren finally shifted her eyes downwards while the color drained from Callum's face. Darcy very rarely used swear words, so when she did people knew it was because she was extremely angry.

"Darce-" Callum repeated, his voice pleading.

"No! Don't you fucking dare!" she ordered. "Don't you dare try to explain this. We aren't even broken up! All I said was that I needed time! You're cheating on me, you arsehole!" Callum didn't bother trying to defend himself, knowing that she wouldn't let him. "And with Lauren?!" she cried. "You always said you didn't like her. That she was an annoying bint. I guess that was all a lie," she scoffed.

"No, babe please! I promise, this is nothing!" Callum protested. Lauren looked up, hurt marring her face. Rose was the only one to notice, but she couldn't find it in her to feel sorry for the Ravenclaw girl at all, given the situation.

"Yeah because this," Darcy said sarcastically, indicating towards Lauren and Callum, "definitely looks like you don't like her."

A look of guilt crossed Callum's features as he took a step towards Darcy, but she put up her hands to stop him. "No. Don't even try. Consider our break permanent," she snapped. "Rose, let's go." She turned and began walking back the way they'd come.

Turning to face Lauren, Rose fixed her with a cold glare. "That was a bitchy move Montague."

"Spare me the lecture on morality, Weasley," spat Lauren. "Just give us detention and let us go."

Rose shook her head in disbelief at Lauren's attitude towards what she had just done. "Detention. This whole week, with Professor Longbottom."

Callum still stood motionless, not listening as Lauren balked. "The whole week?! What the hell are you playing at Weasley."

"Take it up with the Headmistress if you want," Rose said smugly, knowing Lauren couldn't do that without bringing up the situation in which she had been found. "Both of you go back to your dorms. Now."

Scowling, Lauren tugged at Callum's hand. He snapped out of his daze but pulled his hand away to walk down the corridor alone. Rose saw a look of hurt cross Lauren's face, but couldn't find it in herself to care, given the situation. The blonde followed Callum towards the Ravenclaw dorms without another glance at Rose.

Shaking her head, Rose turned to follow where Darcy had gone, but found she didn't have to search too far. Turning the corner, she saw the Hufflepuff sitting against the wall, head in her hands. Darcy looked up as Rose sat down next to her. "So much for hurting him," she sniffed. "I know I was going to break up with him but… but it still hurts," she whispered.

"I'm sorry," Rose sighed, not knowing what else to say. "I'm going to steal something from Scorpius and just say 'fucking Ravenclaws.'"

Darcy gave a small laugh which turned into a strangled sob.

"C'mon, let's go to the kitchens. I think we're in much need of some ice cream." Darcy have her a small smile as Rose helped her up, and the two of them walked side by side towards the kitchens.

* * *

**And another chapter done. This chapter was actually cut down because initially it was going to include the Quidditch match and some other stuff, but I've decided to put that in the next chapter because it was simply getting way too long and you guys deserved an update.**

**Like I said I'm sorry for the wait, but right now I'm in the middle of doing my law school applications, looking for a part time job, and doing a law internship. I don't want to promise anything, but I'm hoping (HOPING being the operative word) to have the next chapter done before I leave for my India trip (again DO NOT hold me to this, it's only if I get the time to write).**

**As always, reviews would really make me happy! And of course favorites and follows ;)**


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